Post-Op Nutrition

Do most of you follow a low carb diet post-op? From reading these boards, it would appear to be so, but I have a question about if/how you incorporate higher carb items into your daily diet (which also seems to be the norm on these boards).

1) Given that many low-fat or fat-free foods have a higher carb count, do you go for the full fat versions?

2) What about about fruits that have a higher sugar content, such as pineapple, dates and banana? Are they off-limits?

3) Quinoa, sweet potato, oats - healthy starches? Do you eat any of these?

I'm trying to work out how many GRAMS of Carbs/Protein/Fat I should have with an 800 calorie diet (as opposed to the daily percentages of each). It's easier for me to keep my diet under 30 carbs, or get 100 grams of protein than it is to figure out how to reach 35% protein and 25% carbs, if that makes sense.

If I can, I'd like to have almond/coconut milk smoothies with a variety of fruit, but don't know if I should worry about the sugars in these. I also think I'd like to try overnight oats or quinoa, but not sure if this is detrimental to sleeve health and weight loss.

Thanks in advance for your help! 

This is a great post, and I am looking forward to hearing from some of the veterans about this as well!

1. I stick to full fat foods.  Fat doesn't make us fat.  

2. I don't have room for fruits - I eat three meals a day and once I get my protein in there's not much room for anything else.  I'll eat bananas after a race though.  Yay bananas.  

3. Rarely and in minuscule amounts.  See answer to #2.  

Regarding smoothies - my plan is adamant to avoid liquid calories aside from a protein shake a day to reach protein goals, so I wouldn't be putting fruit into a smoothie since it wouldn't fit my plan.  

1)  I do use non-fat and low fat milk / yogurt.  I did this at first b/c it kept the calorie content so much lower.  Now it's just habit.  I do not shy away from fat in general (just calories!)  Like pb2 is a great substitute for peanut butter (45 cals vs 200 cals) b/c most of the fat is removed.  

2) I stayed away from the higher sugar fruits during weight loss

3) I ate these sparingly in weight loss, now I have more in maintenence.  

People are successful with a range of carb grams.  It seems the trends range from 10 - 50 grams per day on average in weight loss mode.  

When eating, the best practice is to always eat protein first, then some veggies.  Save only a couple of bites for other items like grains/sugar/fruit.

And YES - I eat the full-fat versions of foods, for removed fat means extra added carbs or complete chemical ****storm.  It has been determined that eating fat doesn't make you fat at all.  The 90's were a complete myth.

My NUT suggests less than 50 grams of fat per day and it's fairly easy because we're otherwise eating lean protein. The boards suggest 30 grams of carbs or less per day and that is less than my NUT suggests, but I believe the people here who've "been there, done that." I'm not as low as 30 grams a day, but I try to stay under 60! (I exercise one- to two-hours per day.)

My NUT says for fruit, start with the berries first! I've had some grapes and they shot my daily CARB totals way up, so now I'm avoiding that while in weight-loss mode. I was wishing I didn't eat so many after I typed that into MyFitnessPal!

Steel-cut oats and quinoa are on my NUT's plan, but again, it's a lot of carbs for the day, so I don't make them a habit. Just a once in a while. 

My sleeve is sensitive to sugar even in low doses - causes diarrhea. AND it's sensitive to sugar-free sweeteners. That's just me, though. I've had some food cooked in olive oil and a few things with higher fat content (light mayo) and that goes down OK for me. Everybody is different!  

When you get farther out and if you want that 'full' feeling, you'll stick to the dense lean protein to get there. Otherwise, I love cottage cheese, hardboiled eggs, omelets made of Egg Beaters (just my preference), tuna, Greek yogurt, chicken, scallops, fish. If you eat those (as we're supposed to), no room for much else!

Some foods don't give you that full feeling, so you may not feel satisfied or there's a chance of eating too much of it. My NUT suggests that I remember the portions that I can eat NOW at this point to feel full  (3- and 4-months out) because when this restriction lessens, we'll want to keep eating this amount. No more than 6 ounces, no more than 1 cup of food. It's not easy to hit the protein totals this way. The shakes can help with that, though! Jus****ch how much stuff you put in the shake that will increase calories, carbs and sugars!

Best wishes to you! You'll figure out what works for you and what you like!

The basic gist of post-op eating is that there's limited room for food in your pouch, so you need to maximize what you put in there to hit your protein goal. If you're going to spend, say, 200 calories on a meal, that 200 cal needs to count towards your protein goal rather than just sugar or carbs, even if they're "good" carbs.

Smoothies can be helpful for some if you add lots of protein powder, but if you're just adding fruit and milk then there are much better ways to "spend" your calories. Additionally, liquids don't help you to feel full and leave you wanting to eat more, so smoothies/juice aren't the best to hvae on a regular basis.

Honestly, I ate very little fruit at all until I reached maintenance-- the only time I had it was on long bike trips when I needed the carbs. Ditto on the starch, I eat oatmeal before I head out on a 20+ mile ride, but otherwise it was as much protein as I could eat.

Since I have trouble converting biking distances to running distances - how much time does a 20 mile ride take?  I definitely find there's a threshold for me.  If I'm running more than an hour, I've got to eat something beforehand!

I can do 20 miles in about 1:45 when i don't push myself too hard. If I don't eat in advance, I tend to bonk after about 40 minutes, tops.

That's pretty much on par with my bonking :)  I have a hard time converting swimming to running to biking when talking about distances with friends!