Question:
2 oz os soft not enough, please help...
My doctor started me on 'soft' foods 1 week after surgery. Per the doctor, I am only supposed to eat 2 oz of 'soft' 4 times a day. I cannot stand it, the 2 oz is nothing, and i am constantly hungry. I do not get sick and so far nothing has even made me queasy..is something wrong with me or my pouch, just doesn't seem that the 2 oz is enough. Please advise.. — bubbarino (posted on April 16, 2004)
April 16, 2004
Hi Ok what are you eating. Are you drinking enough? Are you doing the
protien. Protien makes you full longer. They tell me whenever I feel hungry
a lot I am prob. not drinking enough. SO try a protien shake or water or
crystal light. Good Luck,
— T. Rosario
April 16, 2004
I am eating things like Mashed potatoes, Cottage Cheese, and creamed soups.
Doing my protein and water too. I just don't seem to be doing things right
for some reason. Not getting the full signals
— bubbarino
April 16, 2004
Hi Paul,
Try drinking more water, it worked for me! Also, try to figure out if you
are really hungry or if it is 'head hunger.' This was the time I learned
all about that head hunger thing going on (a good reason I ended up mo). I
have learned to drink water and to stay busy! Good luck Paul, you will get
the hang of this!
— sunkissed kid
April 16, 2004
Your hunger may be head hunger. Change what you are eating and drink lots.
Also try popsicles or crush ice in your protein drink and eat with a
spoon. Ideas: scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, s/f pudding, cream
soups, cream of wheat. I wish you the best of luck. You will do great,
while you melt away.
— DJJCHARRIS
April 16, 2004
Every surgeon is different w/ the postop eating advice...but I'll list what
was my schedule. Weeks 1-2 full liquids, weeks 3-4 pureed. The liquids
actually had yogurt, jello, pudding and soups (creamed soups...pureed).
8am-9am breakfast. 4 oz sugar-free yogurs and 4 oz strained high progein
oatmeal. 9:30-10:30 8 oz water 10:30-11:00 4 oz protein shake. 12:30-1:30
lunch: 2oz unsweetened juice, 4 oz high protein cream soup and 2 oz sugar
fee pudding. 2:00-3:00 8 oz water (or non-caloric non-carbonated
beverage). 3:00-3:30 4 oz protein shake. 5:00-6:00 dinner: 4 oz high
protein skim milk and 4 oz soup (high protein). 6:30-7:30 8 oz water.
7:30-8:00 4oz protein shake. 8:00-9:00 8 oz water. Its basically the
first 4 weeks 1 hour for 8 oz of meals (they advised 2 different 4 oz
items), wait 1/2 hour, drink 8 oz water over 1 hour, then 4 oz protein
shake over 1/2 hour...then wait 1.5 hours and start over again. The high
protein pudding and soup is simply using skim milk powder with skim milk
and adding that as your base to your puddings and soups. When I hit weeks
5-9, the schedule is almost the same, but since its food w/ more
consitency, my meals are more 2-3 oz but it is very satisfying. I still do
3 meals, 3 snacks, but the meals are 45 min max, and I am to pushing them
back to 30 min. I am getting in about 60-70 of iced tea (decaf w/ splenda)
and find im not as hungry...but I've made sure to stop drinking 1/2 hour
before and after I eat. With your meals, put protein first. Good luck to
you.....
— M. Me
April 16, 2004
Paul, eat more protein type snacks - scrambled eggs, peanut butter,
cheeses. Even at this stage the carbs made me hungry quicker. I had a lot
of head hunger in the beginning and I answered it with water. In truth, it
had been a long time since I had been truly hungry and I guess we forget
because the first time that I felt truly hungry and empty was about 6
months after my surgery. Good luck!!
— Etta M.
April 16, 2004
Tried refried beans with or without cheese. My favorite food for the soft
food stage!
— Patricia T.
April 17, 2004
Does your doctor have you on something like Pepcid AC? I found that when I
was experiencing the excessive hunger sensation the pepcid was a major help
so I assume that it was the soreness that was causing me to think of
hunger. Also, I also found that by doing at least 3 protein shakes a day
(34 gm) I had very little problem with hunger. I prefer Champion Pure Whey
Stack brand, but there are many other brands available too. Vitalady.com
and wlssuccess.com have a whole selection from which to choose. It does
seem that most people prefer the Champion brand and augment it sometimes
with other brands. An example is I like my champion with Proplete Gold
double Chocolate mixed in and use 1 scoop Champion 1/2 scoop ProPlete. Oh,
I had my days where I felt I could eat anything when in reality I could
not. I used sugar free popsicles for those days as a stress reliever
because at 15 calories each they did not impact much and they added fluid
to my day. Good luck and things do improve.
Sandra
— Arizona_Sun
April 17, 2004
you mentioned you aren't getting the "Full" signal. It might be
a trick, when I first had surgery, I wasn't getting any signal at all, not
full...and since I before surgery, I never really felt true HUNGER, because
I was always eating, I've always felt like NOT FULL meant HUNGRY. It
doesn't! You WILL need time to readjust, and believe, 2 oz is plenty. It
wasn't untill about the 4th week of surgery, i really felt HUNGRY...
— thekatinthehat
April 19, 2004
Paul, I was the same way for two or even three weeks after my surgery. My
suggestion to you is to find a really GOOD Chinese Restaurant and get a
quart of HOT and SOUR Soup, take it home and every 30 to 40 minutes drink a
1/4 to 1/2 cup of the hot HOT and SOUR Soup. I promise it will give you a
warm feeling inside and you will feel full as well as SATISFIED. Trust me.
Please feel free to email me anytime and GOOD LUCK, Cindy
— cindirella
April 19, 2004
I felt what I thought was hunger when I was in the hospital after surgery!
I was alarmed until I was told that soreness can imitate hunger pains.
After that, I didn't get any signals either, hungry, full, nothing. I just
ate my 2 ounces when I was supposed to, and drank as much water as I could
stand. I know that the head hunger was pretty weird, I even tried to
indulge it at times, by eating my 2 oz earlier than planned, and, of
course, I wasn't really hungry. It is just a strange feeling to not eat
all the time. That is what it was for me anyway.
— misha
April 20, 2004
Paul,
First off, "full" feels different after the surgery than it does
before surgery. Don't try to eat until you feel full like you used to feel
it, or the next sensation you will feel is that of being very sick. You
should probably talk with your surgeon about this. You might be ready to
move to more substantial foods sooner. It varies by patient. My surgeon
allowed me to move to the soft food stage a week before I was supposed to.
The main reason for the eating regime is to allow healing to occurr. I
personally beleive this is very important. You have been cut pretty
extensively, and it takes time to heal properly. Please do what your
surgeon tells you to. In most cases, you will be back to "normal"
food within 8 weeks. This is nothing to pay for a lifetime of success. You
don't want to risk wrecking your surgery by eating stuff that causes it to
heal wrong. Keep your eye on the long term goal and do what it takes to
get there. Talk with your surgeon and do what he/she says you should. Even
if you don't like it. 8 weeks goes by pretty quick in the big scheme of
things.
— Greg P.
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