FluffyChix

Well, I hope you love me as much as I love you now? So maybe it all had a happy ending?

Said no one ever...

Yep I hear ya hon. I kept asking in recovery, "Hey, I thought I was supposed to have a bunch of gas bloating and pain in my shoulders and stuff." LOL. They told me that the doctor evacuated as much of the gas as they could out of my abdomen. It was flat and soft and pliable! I was amazed! And had zero gas pain or bloating! It truly was the easiest of all my surgeries and definitely easier than any of the cancer or reconstruction surgeries! Def easier than my hysterectomy too. I didn't even suck on energy. It's been sickeningly WONDERFUL and easy. I just don't get it really. All that angst for nothin!

Hahaha! I may have watched a little too much NCIS over the years...just sayin'. *snort*

OK y'all. Much has been written right here in our little slice of heaven about getting into pools and hot tubs post surgery! I was cleared for full work-outs with weights at my 4 week check-up. My incisions are healed, scabs gone, bruises almost gone. We discussed water aerobics. She seemed to like the idea of them... But! I forgot to ask her about getting in a hot tub. Derp! Next weekend I will be 5 1/2 weeks post op. Do you think it will be safe to get in a hot tub? It's privately owned rather than public. I don't want my wounds to re-open or get a bunch of grahdoo growing in them. God wouldn't it be aweful to be sitting there and look down and like a zombie, we're all sitting around in my human post-op meat soup? Buzz kill. Am I right?

It's all normal. You're gonna be ok. Take it one day at a time and breathe. It's easy for me to say but I was plenty uptight leading up to surgery. It was soooo much unnecessary worry. It was seriously the easiest surgery and I've had the easiest time...

Did your doc actually tell you that you would be eating pureed food? Cuz I didn't find out until after surgery and at my appropriate check-up that I got to bypass the purees and go straight for soft mechanical.

I can so relate to everything you say!!! ((hugs))

I made em into popsicles too. Very easy way to get fluids and protein in at the same time!

I make meats each week. Usually 2 or 3 different ones to use as bases. That way if I have grilled chicken, I can just pull off 1 1/2 or 2oz and mix it up any way I want. Same with fish/salmon/shrimp. Same with lean pork--I'm doing as well with it as with the chicken. I'm weird, I like chicken breasts rather than thighs. Meh?... I will spice the meats differently. Some weeks it is basic s/p/gran garl. Other weeks it may be Greek or Italian or Asian. I also freeze in 4oz cooked portions so it's easy to split. I also am now digging adding salads back using very simple ingredients. So far only baby spinach, red onion, low fat feta and WF zero cal Italian. But it's so nice to have part of an egg and some turkey on it. Or toss with white beans or garbanzos. Etc. I have a ton of different meat lube that spices the meats up and changes them: sf bbq sauce, Classico Asiago Romano Alfredo, Central Market Taste of Italy Marinara, Brown Chicken Gravy, Brown Beef Gravy. I also keep baby spinach and baby super greens, broccoli crowns, zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms as well as tomatoes/gr toms and avocados, onions on hand. I have frozen veg like green beans, greens of all kinds. And have canned beans of different types. I also keep different cheeses, frozen blueberries, cottage cheese, Grk yogurt, sf applesauce on hand. I can literally never eat the same thing twice this way with minimal weekly prep and keep variety alive!

Yes! It's absolutely about finding the sweet spot! And not going cray in the trying. LOL! (at least for me) So if you're losing steadily, why are you cutting cals still and stressing over 1oz or 1/4c? And I am so happy with my RD. I would wish for everyone that they could find that exact person who can work with them. Cuz they really can allay fears. Mine works most exclusively with bariatrics but also with some kidney and liver patients. So I do trust her feedback and direction. You know?

I think it matters the most to get your protein in and let that determine how many meals? Here's what I'm doing to get 60g of protein daily: B1: decaff coffee and Premier Protein used as creamer (6oz of PP during this meal) = 10g P B2 (elevensies): Around 14g P L: Around 14g P AS: Around 12g P D: Around 14g P BS: None unless needed to make 60g P for the day, then more PP in decaff coffee. Hope that helps! I eat about every 3-4 hours-ish?

No. I weighed 222.4lb at surgery. My 1st goal is 160lbs. I did RNY for some of the same reasons. I have pre-cancerous cells in my esoph and duodenum and gastritis (which 98% of us have). I am also a BC survivor. So RNY it was. And I'm doing fine. So will you.

It'll get better.

LOL, it's the message that pops up when I hit "LIKE" on your posts. It also shows when I hit "LIKE" on some others' posts too...even Alex's posts I get that message.

I just discussed this with my RD. And she suggested what @Sleeve1stFitNext said. She said introduce texture and fiber while keeping your quantities normal for your time frame of surgery and food progression. Mine is supposed to be 1/2c volume. She said right now for me it's volume. At 2 months, you may be by weight. But instead of soft foods, go for normal food textures. Take the tiny bites, track everything, eat slowly, chew like hell, don't add liquids until your pouch is empty. It's made all the diff in the world with satiety and portion control! Hope it helps!

Thanks!! Yeah, on the lifting weights part, I think I'm gonna hold off. But who am I kidding? I only lift 3lb free weights right now. And it will prolly be about 8 weeks before I can get back to PT anyway. So thank you for the confirmation my friend!!

LOVE this part!

Yes! Mine has pride of place on the counter. EVERYTHING gets weighed. LOL. And tared. I'm a huge fan of the tare button! I don't know why it took me so long to do it all in one cup, like feeding the primates at the zoo. Everything gets weighed and chopped and goes into the feeding bowl. Ha!!!

Somehow at the 2 week post op mark a lot of us push the "Hello, do you know me? I'm the stupid one who tries to live out the movie Jackass in real life button." I did it. Many have done it. You can beat a dead horse, but it won't make it run again. So move on. But as @sideeye said, the disturbing part about that slip-up was the volume and the product used for the test. It really can cause staple line ruptures but worse as my surgeon just explained, she has very few pts with complications or stretched out pouches/sleeves. So I trust her advice. She said at this point in our healing, it is absolutely possible to stretch out the pouch or sleeve. I figure I can be a dumb ass about rules that keep me safe and my tool in tact, OR I can be a smart ass about it. I would much rather be a smart ass about it. I'm far too intelligent to wind up with a fu*ked up tool 3 months out from surgery. I think you are too.

Doh! But of course!! An elegant, portable, and simple solution!!

I think you did just fine!!! Yes, her advice has helped SO much!!! It's given me reassurance and adding texture has really helped with feeling full! My tummy is giving me feedback now! Yay! She said about thinner soups: to drink the broth first and slowly. Then sit with it for 5-10 minutes if possible, then eat the solids afterward. That way it won't be like drinking with meals. And LOVE any kind of soup with spinach or kale, but especially Tuscan white bean! OMG! YUMMMY!! I've been using a 1/2c measuring cup placed on my scale. I first weigh my protein into it--it's now been about 1 to 1 1/2oz of protein this way--and then add my veg on top (anywhere from 1/2 - 1oz of veg will fit). Then I go outside the box and do at dinner 1tbsp to 1/2oz avocado and a grape tomato or 1/2oz tomato. It's really been filling me up! Hope that helps girlie!!

So I am confused. Your title says on-the-go purees. And only the second one is a puree. But in the body of your post you discuss progressing to real foods. Quinoa is not part of that progression to soft solids. No way would I at 2weeks post-op put any kind of nut or seed in my pouch and that means (no nuts, no chia, no quinoa, no strawberries or fruit/berries with peels, no hemp hearts, nada, zilch). Your hotel in vegas will at least have a breakfast bar (continental) where you can get boiled eggs, yogurts, etc. You can brink applesauce (unsweetened in the tube), and other veg if you must...but at dinners, just cut your food by each bite and make that bite really small. Engage in conversations. Move the stuff around on your plate. And eat your fill of the following fork soft foods: fish chicken MAYBE shrimp (I did fine on shrimp but YMMV) crab eggs eggs yogurt cottage cheese soft veggies (which most banquet food is soft veg anyway) soft skinless fruit (think fruit salad canned consistency) And that's it. You will likely only be eating 1 to 1 1/2oz protein + 1oz veg at the most if you are anything like my progression (and I have had a super easy progression) Hope that helps. But you want nothing that could possibly hang up in the seams of your new anatomy. And seeds and nuts, nut butters, tomatoes with seeds will absolutely do that!

I'd love to like you Kathy.

Protein2O water; Premier Protein Clear; and Isopure. I'd cut any of them with water at 50%. It will make them more dilute and drinkable. They are all clear liquids.