Duke Soft Foods

Hey all!
Well, I am three weeks out, tomorrow! I go back to see Dr. Pryor on Tuesday and I will hopefully begin soft foods. Can anyone give me an idea of what kinds of things they ate when they got moved to soft foods? I'm thinking eggs, cheese, ff refried beans, hummus, etc. Am I on the right track?

Thanks!

Hi Spragan,

I am eating a lot of tuna salad (low fat mayo of course), fat free refried beans, scrambled eggs and deviled eggs (things with a tangy, spicy flavor are my favorite), cottage cheese with sugar free smuckers, three bean salad (kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans and some low fat italian dressing), etc.  Basically, you're going to hear about needing to eat things that are "fork tender" aka things that you can smoosh with a fork.  I also really enjoy tilapia cooked in aluminum foil with some red peppers and lemon juice.  I'm not a huge fan of hummus, but a lot of people enjoy it.  I'd definitely say you're on the right track.  Keep in mind that you need to eat things high in protein!

Good luck and I know you're excited to eat real food soon!  :)

Fran :)

Sarah,

If you look at my blog around July 4th, I think that is when I transitioned on to soft foods and I left a detailed outline of what that means, but the high-level overview is anything that is 'fork tender', isn't cruciferous, doesn't have skins, isn't 'sticky' and isn't pasta, potatoes or rice. I don't think you can do salads yet either, but if you check my blog, it will tell you in detail. 

I would suggest that you start with things like cottage cheese, beans, and meats that are cooked in a moist heat... i.e., braised or cooked in a crock pot... The crock pot and chili's or bean dishes will become your friends. Remember that even though things like scrambled eggs may 'seem' soft, that many people have trouble with them early on because they are 'dense', so you may want to go slow with eggs and when you do try them, remember to chew, chew, chew. 

In some ways, this transition is a little more challenging because you are going to have to really juggle your fluids and foods. You won't be drinking 30 mins before, during or after eating, so you will need to be drinking constantly otherwise or you might have trouble making your fluid quota. 

I also found that logging my intake really helped me make sure I was getting enough and while it might not seem like it today, next week you may feel like you are stuffing your face and eating constantly just to get in the recommended 800 calories a day.

Congratulations on getting through the starvation period. Good luck as you start to reintroduce foods!

When i was able to eat soft foods i purchased a mini food processor (about $20 @ Walmart).  It was a life saver since i could turn almost anything into soft foods... Worked well for me.  I actually still use it quite often, just not for processing my food... more for chopping herbs, garlic, onion, etc....

Good luck with the soff foods.  I am still in the middle of this stage.  I have tried scramble eggs three times and they didn't go down well.  I eat a lot of tuna with low-fat mayo.  Also, I eat alot of greek yogurt and cottage cheese.  I have tried white fish and shrimp.  Shrimp isn't work for me yet but the fish I can usually handle okay.   I am having trouble with getting all my fluids in.  Cold drinks like crystal light aren't easy for me to drink.  Warm liquids like soups go down a lot better from some reason for me.    This stage can be hard some days for me.  I just try to do my best to get in the protein and the fluids and if I have a hard day, I hope to do better the next day.

Congratulations on 3 weeks out.
The first soft food I had was one scrambled egg with cheese.
I was so looking forward to it.
WARNING eggs are denser like Barb said and I had my  first experince with having something getting stuck OMG after that I did not eat eggs for one year.
Eggbeaters tend to be softer so maybe look into that.
Almost three years out and one egg is all I can do.
I have learned to make a one egg omlet and it is great!

                                                                          Annie
Chew Chew