Back to Real Food - What Should I start With?

Well, tomorrow begins my 4th week since my surgery, and according to my schedule, I should be eating regular food tomorrow. The book suggests I try one new food at a time, but I don't know where to begin. The doctor's list is very vague, I have a friend who gave me her book from Barix, and two other books. They all seem to say different things - from a bowl of cereal to refried beans and taco meat. What, realistically, should I start with? I am tired of tuna fish already after my week of soft food! Anna

Hi Anna: I will be at 4 weeks on Thursday. My doc started me on solid foods last Tues. I began with Tilapia broiled in V-8 juice and about a tablespoon of sweet potatioes. Another day was finely chopped chix sald w/ low fat ritz crackers. I will sometimes have a 1/2 banana w/ a little PB. I do not eat beef of any kind...feel its too early for that. Soft turkey w/ mashed pot and FF gravy goes down well with me too. Good Luck Robin

Thanks, Robin! I didn't know I could eat crackers and stuff - I mean, I figured eventually, but you don't know how much I'd love a cracker right now LOL. Are you using regular peanut butter? Do they make sugar free/fat free peanut butter? I was allowed to eat fish this week - flaky fish - so I had tilapia one night at Red Lobster. I am also worried about how to know when to stop eating - it took me half an hour to eat about 1/4 of the piece of fi****hink I could have eaten a little more, but I SOOOOO don't want to get sick. Thanks again! Anna

Hi Anna, I had Dr. Bilof who is Dr. Nausbaum's partner and the info that he gave does seem very vague. For myself, I would try something different each day. I also don't eat beef often so I would say try some other fish such as salmon. Dr. Bilof also wants me to continue with having at least one protein shake a day. Until my visit with him this past Thursday, I was getting most of my protein from food. It's just trial and error at this point. Select foods that are nutritionist and take a bite to see if you can tolerate that food. Carla

Hi Anna -- Soft chunky soups were my savior when I started real foods. I also did real well with sushi (not the rice, just the fish) in small pieces -- went down real easy. Lentil soup with shredded cheese and chili were also good choices for me. Try only one new food a day to see how you tolerate it. Scrambled eggs (wet), ricotta and cottage cheese mixed with some soft cookied veggies work out well too. Good luck. Nannette

Dr Nusbaum is my surgeon, too. I agree on the try one food at a time thing. Some things I remember eating early on: refried beans - Taco Bell chili - make sure the meat is tender fish shrimp scrambled eggs I pretty much tried any protein that appealed to me. I'm a huge seafood lover, so I think that was a Godsend. I had difficulty with eggs; I could only tolerate them in custards. Now they're no problem. Chicken was also iffy - but everyone is different, so don't hesitate to try them. Make sure your food is very moist. I would watch the cracker/processed carb thing; early on, you want to concentrate on as much protein as possible. If you must have crackers, read the sugar content on the package - some of them are LOADED with the stuff. There are also low-carb versions available. There is also low-carb (read low sugar) peanut butter - I think it's Skippy that has the "Carb Option" selection. Good luck - I'm sure you're going to be a great succes! P~ http://www.weightlossnj.com

Hi, Anna; I am really concerned about the responses that are not full of healthy choices but rather just to get something new back in your diet. Uh, you had the surgery to get rid of those bad habits...like crackers, peanut butter and carb laden mashed potatoes. It is okay to have those items if you are healing and cannot tolerate anything else. But, as for me, I am going the healthy route all the way with my food introductions. I eat fish (2 oz) with creamed spinach (bird's eye makes a wonderful healthy version). I eat tuna with lt. mayo and 1% cottage cheese - 2 oz meal. I eat 1 oz chicken breast nugget (JAN'S ORGANIC LOW FAT ARE THE BEST) and no sugar added applesauce with 2T very soft cooked veggies. I eat eggbeaters, 1/4 cup (they come with ham & cheese, if you like or veggies, already mixed in) and I sprinkle 75% fat free cheddar cheese on top after I microwave the eggbeaters for 1 minute. YUM! Put a little salsa on top and voila, a great breakfast! All the MorningStar Farm boca burgers, sausage, etc. are great. soy products with lots of protein and they are easy to tolerate. Be creative. I made a boca grilled burger, cut it in 4's and had it with creamed spinach on a portabello mushroom cap that I poached with dijon mustard last night. 2 oz meal and it was heavenly! Hope that helps. I am 5 weeks post-op today and have lost 40 lbs. ShelleyAnne

You guys are awesome! So far, most everything I've tried is working okay, but I haven't been very adventurous! I made crab cakes for my family last night, and reserved some of the crab for myself. That tasted good. I also tried scrambled egg whites this morning. Yummy and went down easy. Are you all measuring out about 2 ounces of food? I know I'm eating way too little of stuff, but still being so afraid of what might happen keeps the leash short This morning, the one scrambled egg white was such a small portion - and less than 4 grams of protein. And I know the crab I had was probably less than 2 ounces. ShelleyAnne - can you eat a whole Boca Burger? Can you put ketchup on those things? Your meals sound great - I haven't even let the thought of any kind of veggies other than potatoes enter my mind. I'm down 32 pounds after 3 weeks - but I really am not eating enough of anything. I still just try to drink as much as I can and get in at least one protein shake a day - which I know is way too little. They're just so gross

hi anna!!! ross eats off a saucer plate now and eats until he thinks he is full -- mashed potatoes seem to work real well with him -- lean hamburgs and sausage patties are fine -- frozen fish -- chicken -- pork tenderloin -- and all his protein comes from food now -- remember that everyone is different get a million ideas and sort thru them take care roberta

hi everyone im also just at four weeks, and im down almost 40 lbs. ive had salmon, which i flaked, and also a frozen fish fillet of some kind, i forgot. i bought stouffers spinach souffle, of which i eat mostly a teaspoon at a time, but it has a good flavor and goes down well. also had hormels, i think, kids meals, chicken with noodle rings, one container is at least two meals for me. i know i need to try new stuff but im nervous. i found a protein pudding at the health food store, 20 grams of protein in a can, which also is at least two servings for me, i cant abide the protein drinks. so i guess its trial and error every day. also on crackers, doc said if i want one cracker with a soft spreadable cheese on it, that was OK. its nice to have a different texture, without having something really dangerous to my weight loss. im craving fresh fruit, not sure where to go with that yet. has anyone tried watermelon, im wondering if that would be good, cause it kinda melts in your mouth??? hugs and continued success to all of us, jacki