grocery shopping for the first time.

hello, everyone ..

well, i have finally advanced to "soft/regular" food and i honestly have no clue what to buy once i go grocery shopping. although i could have advanced to this stage on tuesday, i decided to take things slow since i have long work days. i have found that my body likes greek yogurt and string cheese. but i'm just worried about how my body will adapt to actual meat now. also, the fruits and vegetables i currently want i can't have until i am 3 months post-op.

with that being said - what did you buy once your eating advanced to "soft/regular" food?

If you haven't checked out the world according to egg face blog, it's worth a look - she has great tips for all the different stages.

I know I ate a lot of chicken, I would advise dark meat to start, it tends to be moister and easier to swallow. White breast meat tends to be dryer and dryer meats are more difficult to swallow (don't ask me why, just know it was an issue for me and I've heard other WLS patients say the same thing). I do like both white and dark but prefer dark. People worry about the calories but a thigh is smaller than a breast (I can still get 2 to 3 servings from a single breast) but if you look at ounces, dark meat is around 10 calories more than breast meat for the same serving size. I get my thighs skinless and boneless. Ground turkey also worked well with me. Again, this early out, I would get the "fattier" version for now because it will be moister and dryer meats don't go down as easily. I now get the leaner ground turkey because I have very few food issues so if that is a concern for you, just do the fattier ground turkey to start and of course, if you prefer white chicken meat, you can swap to it later.

I also picked up the Tuna Creations which are usually about 2 to 2 1/2 oz, come in a variety of flavors and are pretty pure ingredient wise. You can use mayonnaise or not, again, the mayonnaise might add a moistness but I was fine without it. They are still "go tos" for me and I stay stocked up on them. I liked the sardines (I do packed in water) I would start with those kinds of meats. Oh and I also ate a lot of salmon and tilapia, still do.

You can't have cooked veggies? I could have cooked veggies at the pureed (of course, pureed) and cooked veggies (well cooked, not al dente) at the soft food stage. I quite often paired my meat with riced cauliflower or the mashed potato version of cauliflower. I also love zoodles but I haven't zoodled in awhile, strangely. I did and still do a lot of frozen veggies. I would (and still do) get the baby carrots that you can microwave in the packaging but microwave them for 5 or 6 minutes instead of the 2 1/2 to 3 recommended on the packaging.

I also still relied on smoothies, yogurt, etc. and still eat those also. Loved refried beans and legumes. They are healthy foods, go down easily and an easy way to keep up your protein.

I'm 18 months out and am in maintenance. I pretty much can eat anything and you will be able to eventually, also. Keep in mind that just because you can eat it, doesn't mean it is good for you, i.e. pasta (which you could probably eat at the soft food stage) and bread will never be good choices, One, they are simple carbs and will not satiate for very long and because they are "dough", when they get to your tiny pouch, they will expand and then you won't have room for the more nutrient dense portions of your meal). As far as recipes, eggface (mentioned above in another post) has a lot of good recipes broken down by stages. As you go forth, look for keto or low carb recipes. Some are too "fatty" for my taste but they do have some that you can alter to make less fatty and they work well for the recommended, kinda low carb diet that a lot of WLS patients follow.

i can have veggies, but a lot of the veggies i want have skin on them. we were also told to shy away from broccoli and cauliflower for right since they both create gas.

how did you deal cheese during your soft stage? so far, string cheese worked great for me.

Like Jen said - eggface has great ideas, my favorite was the ricotta bake. I lived on Greek yogurt, soft scrambled eggs, pureed canned no bean chili and mashed meatballs w/marinara. I also remember that I didn't tolerate everything right away - sometimes you have to keep trying things like eggs, a lot of people have a hard time at first.

Here are some things I ate during that stage! Take things slowly and be careful, don't push yourself too far with things if your stomach doesn't like it

• Frozen white fish fillets in sauce (cod and tilapia mostly)
• Premade pulled pork
• Chicken thighs to put in the crockpot with simmer sauce
• Ricotta cheese to mix with Italian seasoning and spaghetti sauce
• Rotisserie chicken from the deli, which tends to be really moist
• Canned shredded chicken, mix with lite mayo to make chicken salad
• Tuna pouches, especially the lemon-pepper kind
• Scrambled or hard-boiled eggs

Fruit and veggies are great, but early on you need to be focusing on 100% protein. Make sure you're doing meat or dairy first when you eat, then MAYBE a bite or two of veggie once you've had all of your protein.

thank you for your recommendations!

currently eating tilapia and my pouch seems to like it.

BTW - when early out eggs, even though the may seam soft, can actually be a very dense choice. Early out, and even now when I have small pouch days, I need a "lubricant" to help in getting eggs. HB eggs - making egg salad using good quality mayo or even Greek yogurt can help with the texture. Scrambled - I had to make sure they are not completely set, hard. Adding some butter, or even some cream and making an egg "just set", still moist, was a key for me to be able to tolerate eggs.

Even now, when I want something light, I make egg drop soup. I use chicken or beef stock it bone broth, mix the egg with little bit of cream or even water, then slowly pour the egg mixture over boiling stock. Turn it off and enjoy homemade, high quality egg drop soup. Adding just a touch or fresh, chopped dill, makes it almost a decadent meal. That is still my to use meal when I am sick, or my pouch is not happy with me, irritated.

It's funny the only thing that bothered me that still does is salmon. I have to eat it almost raw or it's too dry for me and sorta gets stuck. Otherwise, going slow worked well. Early on I loved Turkey chili and Trader Joe's has a good one. Purees with a little broth really well. I would rewarm things with a little broth poured over to keep it moist as it cooks. Really helped. Go slow, don't stock up. You'll find one item lasts awhile. Try one or two things a couple of times and then make something new. I absolutely loved the flavors in Eggface's ricotta bake and I still make it. So, so good. I agree with others, don't get sucked into the veggies. I would buy frozen veg and just microwave a few pieces (eating a bite or two each meal). The time flys by, so any struggles will only be a moment in time. Good luck.