First experience with "real food"

"3oz of tuna fish kicked my butt!" Well, there's a sentence I never thought I'd say... Anyone not at this stage yet or considering what life after VSG will be like, let me ramble on a minute for you.

Today is is the first day I'm allowed to have things with soft chunks like cottage cheese, refried beans, and tuna fish chopped up into tiny bits. Up until this point, all I've had are full liquids and cream soups. I have been sort of terrified to eat "real food" for the first time again. I guess I was afraid to fall into old habits, not be able to control myself, get fat again, etc.

For dinner, I prepared 2 types of canned tuna. Per my nutritionist's guidelines 3-4oz portions are appropriate, although I've learned from veterans here that 2oz is more than enough to undereat my sleeve. The first was 2oz with light miracle whip and the second was 2oz with soy sauce and a low-cal teriyaki glaze. I started with the soy sauce tuna and ate it very, very slowly. I was able to fini**** off at a slower pace than my family who was eating a normal dinner. Next, I attempted to try the miracle whip tuna..

After getting down a few tiny spoonful bites, I knew I'd had enough and my body didn't want any more. I felt fully satisfied and didn't take another bite more! As I looked around the table, most of my family was already done eating or just finishing up. 

I took away from this dinner a few major points:

• I was able to control myself and not gorge!
• For the first time in forever, I wasn't the first one done eating at the table.
• Eating real food made me feel like a human again, not just a bariatric patient.
• The Nutritionst's word isn't always law. 2oz was plenty, even though she said try 4oz.
• I will be able to do this. It REALLY DOES get better!

Hopefully this little story helps someone out there. I know it helped me to write it all out! 

Thank you Nick for sharing this. This liquid diet has got me feeling like I'll never get to have real food again. And like you said, I'm afraid that after I have my surgery (Friday) and I get to eat real food I'll not be able to control myself. Thank you once again. 

My experience was almost exactly the same, right down to the tuna. As you heal further, you may want to learn to stop eating just short of that white flag. It's called "undereating your sleeve" and it helps reduce pressure on the sleeve and takes weight off faster. And you'll still feel full; that satisfied feeling just takes a little longer to kick in.

Congratulations! Back in the land of real food again is wonderful after all the deprivation, isn't it? 

psychoticparrot

Glad that it went so well. Good to know that you are able to tolerate some real food, isn't it? My first "real" food was a scrambled egg. I finished barely half!

A little advice, if I may: At this point don't wait for that "I have to stop eating" feeling. Measure out 2 oz and be done. You get very used to eating specific portions and your body adjusts quickly. I stayed at 2 oz protein servings until almost 6 months post VSG. Even now at 4 years out, I rarely eat more than 3 oz of protein at one meal. Sticking with smaller portions for as long as possible will really help in the long run. Keeping portions small during the first year seems to really help the sleeve mature into a tight little thing with good restriction. Frisco coined a a term, "Under-eat your sleeve" and it really is good advice. 

Thanks for the tip! That's what I tried to do but was surprised that I couldn't even eat what I had pre-measured out. 

My nutritionist's guidelines said to measure out 3-4oz portions so I measured 2 separate 2oz portions and waited to see what would happen. 

Now I know I'll under eat my sleeve at around 2oz. Thanks again!

Yeah, don't push that 3-4 oz portion. No sense in it. I've never understood the NUTs that push the "Normal" portion size so early out. The smallest amount of food you can eat, but still get the protein you need is the way to go. I was alway about getting as much protein for as few calories as possible. Hell, I still am all about that! 

You're doing great. Keep up the great work!

once I get to solids I'm going to be nervous too.. the dietitian at my surgeons office scared me silly about eating more than 2 oz 

not so much that it will stretch the sleeve but that the staple line can take up to 12 weeks to fully heal and pressure can cause a leak

so she said it's better to eat less and avoid putting pressure along that line.. so you bet your bibbidy I'm not eating more than 1/4 cup lol 

Congratulations, Nick ! One thing to think about... I'm in my 8th month out and I rarely eat more than 3 ounces of protein. My plan had me at  2 ounce max for my first four months. You'll find that as you move to denser proteins, 2 ounces is a lot. Measuring and learning to under eat your sleeve are important skills right now. Your stomach ad nerves are still healing, and you may not get accurate signals from your body for a few more months.

It sounds like you've got your head on the game !

4 ounces of tuna for your first solid mwal is way too much. Now you know for sure. Like kairk said, measure 2 ounces for now, and that's enough. Up it to 3 ounces in a month.

Don't hurt yourself by being greedy.

For sure! I was just following the orders laid out in my guidelines, but 4oz of meat did seem like a lot. That's why I broke it up into smaller portions. I know for sure now. 

I appreciate ate all the advice you WLS veterans have given here! I edited my main post to reflect the new advice I learned.