info for new post-ops.....
For you guys in your "Starting Out" part of Post-Op eating.....
I went back and found some info I passed on to 'Eddie Weedo'
A little over a year ago...
I sort of "glommed it together" here.
Take what info is helpful and skip the rest.....
I hope some one finds it useful.....
_____________________________________________
Here are some “Meals”
At the Mushy/Pureed Stage-
:Cream of Wheat with a teaspoon of protein powder mixed in.
:Super Soft “Cheese Grits” (cook in skim milk and add cheese)
……….(those “Butter Buds®” sprinkles are great early on)
:Really Mushy Oatmeal. Splenda and even a touch of cinnamon and rocks
……….(Vanilla protein Powder in this is good too)
:Refried Beans with a spoon of enchilada sauce and cheese on top.
……….(or just buy a small order at Taco Bell! Loved those)
:Yogurt (CarbControl or SF or Lite,)
……….( jus****ch out for more than 4gs of sugar)
:Campbells Bean w/Bacon soup,
……….(run through the Blender. -food of the gods)
:Tomato Soup with Cheese and/or some protein powder
……….(try with spices for variety- Basil/Italian flavors, Curry Powder,etc)
:Cream of Mushroom Soup, Cream of Chicken Soup
……….(be sure to chew those mushroom/chicken bits)
:Instant Mashed Potatoes with Fat Free or Low Fat Cream Cheese
……….(Also good to make with Chicken or Ham Bullion instead of water)
:Scrambled Eggs with Cheese (My “Go To” Favorite)
……….(can top with spoon of Non-Chunky or blended Spaghetti Sauce,
……….Chili, Cheese sauce, every type of cheese that will melt, etc)
:SF Puddings! The Jell-O Cheescake SF Pudding –w/ cream cheese blended in Rocks!
……….(A little SF strawberry Jam, thinned with juice and spooned on top is great)
:Egg Salad- Boiled egg mashed with pickle or olive juice, pepper and Mayo
Things that I had success with running through the Food processor/blender-
:Canned Carrots,
……….(Added Splenda Brown Sugar, Butter Buds® & cinnamon like Sweet Potatoes)
:Deli Sliced Chicken, mayo and pickle relish with a spoon of Cream Cheese
……….(Like a Chicken salad Spread)
:Chili! With or without beans, then melt cheese over in the Micro wave
Those are some of the “favorites” of the “pureed stage” that come to mind.
Hope these help.
------------------------------------------------------------------
A lot of people have trouble getting
Those Protein Powders to mix with stuff.
Someone at my support group
Said she always thought it made stuff taste like
Someone had thrown a “Handful of Chalk Dust”
In her food or drink.
Well the solution?
Liquid into Dry!
Suppose you are trying to add some to
Yogurt or mashed potatoes.
Take your scoop, (or actually only ½ scoop)
Of the powder and put it in a coffee cup or small bowl.
Get a fork,
And slowly drip some cool water into the powder while
Stirring with the fork.
Don’t try to just add the liquid.
Attempt to make a very thick paste.
Once you’ve got it into a thick paste
Then slowly add more drops
And stir some more until you get a thinner paste.
Keep this up until it is the same consistency
As the food you want to add it to.
By not having “liquid” per se,
The powder can’t clump up
And hang onto “bubbles.”
Even mixing this up ahead of time
And keeping it in the fridge
Is good.
Then just take out how much you want
And stir it into your food.
I have great success this way
Adding Protein Powder to-
Yogurt, Soups, Oatmeal, Smoothies, polenta, etc…
It really helps going into shakes/smoothies.
You don’t get that “foam” on the top
That, no matter how long you run the blender
Just stays forever.
It also gets rid of the “powdery” texture
That can hang on otherwise.
You’ll be on to real food soon.
Just take it SLOW and drink your protein between meals
If you need to get more in…
__________________________________
AND---
For using the soups?
I’d mix them thicker than the directions on the can.
Or at least “I Did.” I got some of those small Glad disposable
Tupperware-like containers for Yogurt and Cream soups.
Unless you stick with just one food all day,
You won’t be able to use up a full container in a day.
I’d just plop a can of tomato soup into the container,
Take out the large couple of tablespoons of it to put in a bowl,
Add a little water to the bowl and throw it in the microwave.
Put a date on the lid of the Glad Container and pop it in the fridge.
That way I wasn’t re-heating the same
“thinned down stuff” again and again.
Yes?
If the stuff you’re eating is more Liquid than Solid
Then the “when to drink” thing is less important.
Liquid food will pass on through into your intestines anyway.
If you have something as solid as Re-Fried Beans,
Then wait at Least 30 minutes before drinking
After finishing, in order to stay “full” longer.
And It’s not just about staying “Full,”
But also about slowing the rate
That the food empties into your Small Intestines.
Still to this day, if I drink with my food?
I get gurgling sounds after, that sound like I swallowed a couple
Of fighting dogs. Freaky-Loud stomach growls.
It’s from too much food hitting the intestines at the same time
Rather than going in bit by bit,
Like it would from a normal, un-chopped stomach.
Aim to have your pureed foods
About the consistency of “Bean Dip.”
That’ll stay in the pouch longer
And move into the intestines at a fair rate.
Here’s a Big Trick that I have failed to mention,
That My Doc was really adamant about-
Only add ONE New food to your ‘intake’ each day.
For example, if you had cream soup, and cheese yesterday,
You can carry it over to the next
And then add ONE New item, like Re-Fried Beans.
So then you could have Cream soup, Cheese, Re-Fried Beans,
-And One new thing The next day.
So on and so on until you can eat pretty much everything.
The Big reason for this IS-
If something Doesn’t Work,
Or causes you Excess Gas or Nausea, or problem of any sort
You’ll know Exactly What it was that caused the problem, and be able to
Pull it “Out of Rotation” for a few weeks until your pouch is able to handle it.
Yes?
If you add 2 or 3 new foods on the same day,
And that night, your wearing out the toilet and cramping like hell
You won’t know which of the New Foods was the Culprit.
Adding only ONE new food a day, Makes it easy to adjust your intake
So you aren’t feeling sick all the time and not being able to fix it right away.
For the first weeks,
Think of food as if it was “Time to take your Medicine!”
Measure out your “Dose” of whatever food,
Eat it and move on about your business.
That makes the “That’s My Whole F-ing Meal?!?” -feeling off of it a bit.
It’s Not a “Meal,” It’s the Nutrients needed to keep you going.
Your body fat will supply the other calories you need.
All the food you are Not Eating,
Your Body will Eat from your stored Fat.
Do get in as much protein as you can in the foods you do take in,
So that your body will eat Just the Fat and leave the muscles alone.
Between “feedings” drink your protein if you need to.
Some Isopure ZeroCarb cut with Crystal-Lite works pretty good.
All of this is – “What I did,”
And based on what you get from your Nutritionist,
You may be set up on a completely different system.
Make sure your Nutritionist is Talking By-Pass Lingo.
And “Gets It” as to Pouch size, stoma emptying into intestines,
Common lactose intolerance for early By-Passers, Dumping Syndrome, etc….
I’ve seen folks out here who had meetings with the Hospital’s
General- “Nutritionist,” who gave the same old-
“Don’t eat a piece of meat larger than a deck of Cards”
-Sort of ‘Run of the Mill’ advice, That was perfect for Heart Patients,
But off the mark for By-Passers,
And completely Whacked for By-Passers less than a Month out of surgery.
Eventually, (and quicker than you can imagine)
You’ll be working toward a “Normal” Balanced Dietary Intake.
More like this one-
http://www.primarycaretoday.ca/session_pdfs/Liz_Pearson.pdf
Good, solid, sound Nutrition advice.
In the meantime,
The trick is to Erase all Old Relationships with Food,
So you can install a new one in its place.
Yes?
That, and for these first 3 to 4 weeks,
Work to NOT make your self Barf!
Hang in there, it does get much easier...
Best Wishes-
Dx
:Campbells Bean w/Bacon soup,
……….(run through the Blender. -food of the gods)
:Tomato Soup with Cheese and/or some protein powder
……….(try with spices for variety- Basil/Italian flavors, Curry Powder,etc)
:Cream of Mushroom Soup, Cream of Chicken Soup
……….(be sure to chew those mushroom/chicken bits)
:Instant Mashed Potatoes with Fat Free or Low Fat Cream Cheese
……….(Also good to make with Chicken or Ham Bullion instead of water)
:Scrambled Eggs with Cheese (My “Go To” Favorite)
……….(can top with spoon of Non-Chunky or blended Spaghetti Sauce,
……….Chili, Cheese sauce, every type of cheese that will melt, etc)
:SF Puddings! The Jell-O Cheescake SF Pudding –w/ cream cheese blended in Rocks!
……….(A little SF strawberry Jam, thinned with juice and spooned on top is great)
:Egg Salad- Boiled egg mashed with pickle or olive juice, pepper and Mayo
Things that I had success with running through the Food processor/blender-
:Canned Carrots,
……….(Added Splenda Brown Sugar, Butter Buds® & cinnamon like Sweet Potatoes)
:Deli Sliced Chicken, mayo and pickle relish with a spoon of Cream Cheese
……….(Like a Chicken salad Spread)
:Chili! With or without beans, then melt cheese over in the Micro wave
Those are some of the “favorites” of the “pureed stage” that come to mind.
Hope these help.
------------------------------------------------------------------
A lot of people have trouble getting
Those Protein Powders to mix with stuff.
Someone at my support group
Said she always thought it made stuff taste like
Someone had thrown a “Handful of Chalk Dust”
In her food or drink.
Well the solution?
Liquid into Dry!
Suppose you are trying to add some to
Yogurt or mashed potatoes.
Take your scoop, (or actually only ½ scoop)
Of the powder and put it in a coffee cup or small bowl.
Get a fork,
And slowly drip some cool water into the powder while
Stirring with the fork.
Don’t try to just add the liquid.
Attempt to make a very thick paste.
Once you’ve got it into a thick paste
Then slowly add more drops
And stir some more until you get a thinner paste.
Keep this up until it is the same consistency
As the food you want to add it to.
By not having “liquid” per se,
The powder can’t clump up
And hang onto “bubbles.”
Even mixing this up ahead of time
And keeping it in the fridge
Is good.
Then just take out how much you want
And stir it into your food.
I have great success this way
Adding Protein Powder to-
Yogurt, Soups, Oatmeal, Smoothies, polenta, etc…
It really helps going into shakes/smoothies.
You don’t get that “foam” on the top
That, no matter how long you run the blender
Just stays forever.
It also gets rid of the “powdery” texture
That can hang on otherwise.
You’ll be on to real food soon.
Just take it SLOW and drink your protein between meals
If you need to get more in…
__________________________________
AND---
For using the soups?
I’d mix them thicker than the directions on the can.
Or at least “I Did.” I got some of those small Glad disposable
Tupperware-like containers for Yogurt and Cream soups.
Unless you stick with just one food all day,
You won’t be able to use up a full container in a day.
I’d just plop a can of tomato soup into the container,
Take out the large couple of tablespoons of it to put in a bowl,
Add a little water to the bowl and throw it in the microwave.
Put a date on the lid of the Glad Container and pop it in the fridge.
That way I wasn’t re-heating the same
“thinned down stuff” again and again.
Yes?
If the stuff you’re eating is more Liquid than Solid
Then the “when to drink” thing is less important.
Liquid food will pass on through into your intestines anyway.
If you have something as solid as Re-Fried Beans,
Then wait at Least 30 minutes before drinking
After finishing, in order to stay “full” longer.
And It’s not just about staying “Full,”
But also about slowing the rate
That the food empties into your Small Intestines.
Still to this day, if I drink with my food?
I get gurgling sounds after, that sound like I swallowed a couple
Of fighting dogs. Freaky-Loud stomach growls.
It’s from too much food hitting the intestines at the same time
Rather than going in bit by bit,
Like it would from a normal, un-chopped stomach.
Aim to have your pureed foods
About the consistency of “Bean Dip.”
That’ll stay in the pouch longer
And move into the intestines at a fair rate.
Here’s a Big Trick that I have failed to mention,
That My Doc was really adamant about-
Only add ONE New food to your ‘intake’ each day.
For example, if you had cream soup, and cheese yesterday,
You can carry it over to the next
And then add ONE New item, like Re-Fried Beans.
So then you could have Cream soup, Cheese, Re-Fried Beans,
-And One new thing The next day.
So on and so on until you can eat pretty much everything.
The Big reason for this IS-
If something Doesn’t Work,
Or causes you Excess Gas or Nausea, or problem of any sort
You’ll know Exactly What it was that caused the problem, and be able to
Pull it “Out of Rotation” for a few weeks until your pouch is able to handle it.
Yes?
If you add 2 or 3 new foods on the same day,
And that night, your wearing out the toilet and cramping like hell
You won’t know which of the New Foods was the Culprit.
Adding only ONE new food a day, Makes it easy to adjust your intake
So you aren’t feeling sick all the time and not being able to fix it right away.
For the first weeks,
Think of food as if it was “Time to take your Medicine!”
Measure out your “Dose” of whatever food,
Eat it and move on about your business.
That makes the “That’s My Whole F-ing Meal?!?” -feeling off of it a bit.
It’s Not a “Meal,” It’s the Nutrients needed to keep you going.
Your body fat will supply the other calories you need.
All the food you are Not Eating,
Your Body will Eat from your stored Fat.
Do get in as much protein as you can in the foods you do take in,
So that your body will eat Just the Fat and leave the muscles alone.
Between “feedings” drink your protein if you need to.
Some Isopure ZeroCarb cut with Crystal-Lite works pretty good.
All of this is – “What I did,”
And based on what you get from your Nutritionist,
You may be set up on a completely different system.
Make sure your Nutritionist is Talking By-Pass Lingo.
And “Gets It” as to Pouch size, stoma emptying into intestines,
Common lactose intolerance for early By-Passers, Dumping Syndrome, etc….
I’ve seen folks out here who had meetings with the Hospital’s
General- “Nutritionist,” who gave the same old-
“Don’t eat a piece of meat larger than a deck of Cards”
-Sort of ‘Run of the Mill’ advice, That was perfect for Heart Patients,
But off the mark for By-Passers,
And completely Whacked for By-Passers less than a Month out of surgery.
Eventually, (and quicker than you can imagine)
You’ll be working toward a “Normal” Balanced Dietary Intake.
More like this one-
http://www.primarycaretoday.ca/session_pdfs/Liz_Pearson.pdf
Good, solid, sound Nutrition advice.
In the meantime,
The trick is to Erase all Old Relationships with Food,
So you can install a new one in its place.
Yes?
That, and for these first 3 to 4 weeks,
Work to NOT make your self Barf!
Hang in there, it does get much easier...
Best Wishes-
Dx Capricious; Impulsive, Semi-Predictable 
Dx -
As always, a great post. I do want to add something that worked well for me - an immersion blender. These are sometimes referred to as stick blenders. More about them at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersion_blender
The advantage to these is that you stick them right into whatever pot, glass, or bowl that you are using. They mix and chop food like any other blender, but they have two advantages:
1) Since you move it around, you can chase down any chunks. Unless your stand blender is a really good one, some chunks usually escape the blades.
2) Clean up is really easy - you just rinse off the end of the mixer. There is no big glass blender pitcher to clean up, because you do the blending in the original container.
You can pick one of these up at Wal-Mart, Target, Linens-N-Things, etc for under $25. I used mine three or four times a day when I was in the pureed stage.
John
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