draikaina8503

Yes to both things you posted! I'm excited to try branching in to more variety of foods, especially things that I can make and share with my family. Both my Mom and fella are somewhat open minded about the recipes and definitely on board for eating healthier. Seeing the weight loss is encouraging but I'm eager to be healed enough to start some kind of exercises. I know that walking and gentle stretching after my meals definitely helps my food digest and alleviates feelings of fullness. I ordered my Magnesium just a bit ago to be delivered from Walmart. I did just double check the dose though and realize I ordered 100mg ones. Oops! Going to have to fix that! 🤦🏻

@Hiddenroses my NP just called back and mentioned adding the magnesium. I said remember I’m in that for muscle cramps she said ooh yea it should help but she also said that if I purée them oats way down I can have the MUSH ones. I’m pretty excited about that because they are quite tasty and have higher Fiber.

I understand completely how you feel and agree it’s a good idea to try some different things. I didnt do much variety in the purée stage with my sleeve because I refused to try puree food that wasn’t supposed to come that way. I’m so glad I am this time to get some variety now though because for on it’s not as bad as I thought and two I’m telling you the soft food stage for me was the absolute most anxiety ridden part of the whole experience.

I was worried about all the new foods not being tolorated but also if it was soft enough. After every meal I sat there for like an hour worried it was gonna come back up and then all night I worried if I hurt something inside and was gonna end up in the ER. I do struggle with anxiety normally but that stage was so much worse for me because I didn’t try the new foods during purée and I was worried about twice as much at once. Hopefully it will be better this time since I am incorporating some variety now.

Ooh. I just started magnesium oxide 400mg at night for the leg cramp. It worked like magic for that too. It hurt one day and was worse the second then I took that at night and morning it was way better. The second day it was fine. Hopefully that will help with my constipation too. I will ask her Wednesdays if I should take two if not. She wrote it at first for the citrate but my pharmacy said they don’t have that so she changed it to the oxide one.

I wanted to remind you of what I posted - somewhere lol - that my Nutritionist suggested I use Magnesium Citrate before beg to help with the Protein induced Constipation. This is exactly what mine told me, in fact: "Yes, the GENEPRO will definitely help increase your protein intake. If you are having constipation from the shakes, you may consider taking Magnesium Citrate(better absorption) or Magnesium Oxide, start at 500 mg and increase to 1000 mg, as needed, before bed. Magnesium relaxes the colon and may help you sleep good." I hope that helps!

I think that's the website I was just on - I found a recipe for unstuffed cabbage rolls I'm going to try. I'll go slowly; not trying to push my stomach, but I know these two weeks of purees are supposed to help me get on the path to eating more variety so I guess I've got to jump in sometime!

Not sure if anyone else is in desperate need of variety of healthy food but I know if I’m gonna stick to this this time around I need to be able to have more meat and veggies. Anyways I Found a really good site for recipes that I thought I would share in case anyone is interested. There are some shake and purée recipes but mostly regular and soft foods There also isn’t much organization to it but there are pages and pages of recipes and some look really good….to me at least. It’s bariatricfoodie.com

Fantastic! As I said before, I really wouldn't focus so much on calories as long as your sugar and fat intake remain on the lower end and your Protein is between 40-60g/day for a female, aiming for 60g but not overeating to achieve it. I know my surgeon told me the #1 goal is to go slowly, space out meals with the no drinking 30 mins before and after, and to stop eating as soon as you begin feeling even a little full with goal during this stage probably being less than 4-6oz/meal between food and any broth/shake/etc, and that sometimes you'll feel full and content at less and that's ok.

I didn't have any trouble with instant oatmeal other than realizing after the fact that it sort of swells after you eat it? You seem to have a good handle on things and checking with your doctor for your specific needs is of course best - my only input is that the second time I had it I opted to eat 2oz less and felt MUCH better afterward. I still pureed it and made it thin. Best of luck and good healing to you!

I know I really need Fiber and I am scared to even do the instant oats because it says strained and I’m not sure if that means I can only have the liquid or what. Decided to make purée cauliflower. I made 1/2 cup and added a scoop of GENEPRO. So my 1/4 cup Has 5.5g Protein but more importantly it has some fiber.

Just went to the grocery and got MUSH overnight oats and of course I had to purée them down a little further but they are really good. Now that I look my book says instant oatmeal. Guess I need to ask before I have it.

I am starting to think that for the first month that the NP should just call all the post op patients like every few days. Seems like I have a new question everyday!! Today I want to know if it’s okay to just add soluable Fiber because I am still having issues with Constipation. Which is pretty odd since everyone warned me about the diarrhea that’s so common with SADI. Anyways, I continually take the two stool softeners daily but it still takes the milk of magnesia to make me go. Then I’m go the next day okay but then nothing for a couple of days until I do the milk of magnesia again and it starts over. I’m certain I need fiber but i don’t want to make things worse so I called to ask just in case.

Hi hi x
The protien powder and premade are all approved. Low cals and less than 2g of sugar so that's good and also my protien soy milk is less than 2g sugar so it fits the criteria and since inputting all that I eat n drink on MFP, I am mindful but alil more guidance would be appreciated. On Sunday (first day of the week here) I'll try to get in touch and demand some attention from either surgical team or anyone!

That to funny that the family is enjoying it too. I told you guys it was good. Once we can eat real food we can add veggies and even some chicken or Turkey sausage into it too. I like it with turkey sausage and onions and peppers or chicken with zucchini and onions. I just thought about it and I bet spinach is good too but never tried that one.
Thanks for some guidance to get me started on the soft food phase. I am such a stickler for the rules type person that when it comes to something like this I don’t like it when they don’t give me many. I get so scared. I was fine with the sleeve whatever I did worked because I heard fine but I remember it being nerve wracking even back then. I wonder if rotisserie chicken would be okay if you get it right when it’s done. They seem to be pretty moist then. I wouldn’t do it because the next day it’s not moist enough and it’s just me and my hubby so there would be so much left over it would be a waste but if you have a family to feed it may work.

Boiling it is a great idea. I had to do that for my dog for a while because her kidneys were bad and she wouldn’t eat. Then we started doing fluids every two days and it was like doggy dialysis and she got better for a while before she passed. Anyways, it was really tender and moist that way. I have also heard from so many people on here that chicken thigh is more moist than breasts.

Glad to hear you got cleared for full liquids. If I was allowed to do that with the chunks I wasn’t told. They just said specifically cream of chicken and to strain out the chunks. I’m sure it will be a little easier with some variety at least. I get to do soft foods starting the 2nd. I remember that stage making me pretty anxious with my sleeve. I think it will be even worse this time without the stomach part to slow me down. Anyways, hang in there. It goes surprisingly quick.

Today was my in-person post-op visit! I got officially cleared for full fluids. I can even have cream Soups if I puree any chunks inside (like cheddar broccoli). Next week, I have a dietitian appointment and hope to be moved to soft foods. I can't wait for chicken salad and refried beans!

Allright if anyone was curious the food processor did work to make the spices way smaller. I went ahead and mixed them in before I heated up my refried Beans so that they could get mushy too. The taste is of course way better now.

Oh yeah -- good thing I only made the one serving of the 'soup' that way lol - I'll stick to just carrots for the next batch! Thanks for the tip! I took a look and my nutritionist didn't exclude the collagen from my protein count - and the one I got is very detailed on the packaging that the protein comes from like, egg shell, egg white, and a couple types of fish. I'm just winging it on my protein until my GENEPRO gets here tomorrow, mainly. I'm sure that will help a LOT toward my goals.
Also @RRenaeL23 - A mile and a half?? You are rocking it! Also, seeing as how you mentioned the VA - thank you for your service!

@Hiddenroses you may want to double check about the peas. They were specifically mentioned no peas or corn in my book for the purée stage. I think it has to do with the shell. Also, I didn’t ask this time so research may have changed but when I got the sleeve 3.5 Years ago I asked about the collagen and was told it was fine to take it but not to count the Protein towards my goal because they really didn’t have enough information to prove that The protein content was accurate.

So my team said that my steri strips would start to fall off between two and three weeks out and that’s okay but I was hoping for closer to three weeks, lol. The one that’s just under my breast was almost off. I guess my real bra rubbed it so I pulled it off. My husband says it looks like it shoud be fine to him but I’m nervous about it anyways. I think when I’m going to be wearing a real bra I will just put a band aid over it for a while just so it doesn’t rub.

@draikaina8503
Thank you for the encouragement and information regarding the smoothie recipes .

One thing I forgot to mention is that while I was driving today I felt like my seat was laying too far back. I think it seriously may be because my butt is smaller. I just asked my husband if he adjusted the seat while I was in hospitaL and he said no. My very first NSV!!

So glad to hear that the blisters are okay. I’m certain you will love the proffee if you are an iced coffee person. You can do it with any shake if you do better witb another brand. I personally like the caramel and I’ve only seen it in the premiere but you could do fairlife In chocolate or vanilla too if they settle better for you. I really like their core power shakes. You can do it with any type of Protein Drink honestly. They do have a generic at Walmart in Carmel that’s cheaper and tastes just as good but the macros are not quite as good. For The coffee I got the Folgers instant singles packs.They have them at Walmart for a buck a box. I make a cup of hot water in the Keurig and mix it in and then put it over any big tervis cup full of ice. I use half for one proffee but if you really like coffee you may like it stronger which I would make it the night before and skip the ice.

The protein 2.0 With electrolytes is 15g but the one without is 20g. I get the strawberry watermelon on Amazon. I actually was confused about the cause of the low magnesium. We talked about all the changes I had made and I thought she said it was the B-12 that can throw off magnesium but it was actually the electrolytes in them drinks. Anyways I cut back to one of them electrolyte drinks a day and took the magnesium supplement and the cramping is gone so just be careful with those that you don’t do too many.

The crochet group went really well. It was so good to see everyone since it’s been 3 weeks. It was also pretty cool to get dressed in normal clothes and be able to see a difference in my body. I have lost 27 pounds and I couldn’t see it in my track pants and athletic shorts but I could see and feel it on my normal clothes which aren’t nearly as uncomfortable as I expected with the binder on.

Anyways, they have been such good cheerleaders for me in all of this. And said they can tell that my mood is so much lighter and they are so glad that I am on the other side of it because they knew how stressful the decision to do this was for me. I brought my purée egg salad with me. I could’ve waited and ate it when I got home since I was only gone for 3 hours but I thought they would get a kick of my tiny two ounce container and they did. I told them that many people who got their stomach cut actually eat like 1 ounce at this point and they were amazed by that.

They wanted to be sure I was allowed spices at least which I thought was pretty comical. I told them I was missing my Ms. Dash because it’s big chunks and one suggested putting some in the food processor to make it more of a powder which I’m anxious to try. I’m trying to stay away from salt since it’s been a month that I’ve gone without so if it’s ever a good time to kick it now is. Another lady also suggested a product called no salt. But I think salt is pretty sharp so I’m gonna try to just stay away from it at least for now.

I sent a message to my bariatric office along with some pics. They said it looks fine to them and it is possibly my immune system just being in overdrive slightly. I did also send the pic of the blisters around my CGM sensor to my diabetic office to see if there's anything in particular I can do for that one. The response was to spray Flonase on my skin and allow it to try before attaching a sensor. So I guess that means I need to take my sensor off. I'll deal with it in a bit. Too much energy to walk up the stairs at the moment.
Next stress on the list - I return to school for my masters degree on the 26th. Timing, y'all. LOL
But in good news for me, World of Warcraft's new expansion hits early release for those of us crazy enough to preorder tonight. So I'll have something to keep me entertained hopefully while I'm taking times of rest. (Also time to mute all the people so that no one spoils anything for me.)
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@ShoppGirl
Thank you for the idea about the proffee. I've decided I'm going to test the limits of my lactose intolerance and get some Premier Protein to see if I can handle it, and that sounds like a good way to have it. I need to go buy Decaf coffee as I don't currently have any.
I've been drinking Protein 2O since before surgery. They're not bad but they leave my mouth feeling super dry. I'm guessing that's the protein in it. But the Protein 2O are only 15g of protein. Which ones are you drinking that are 20g? I'm very curious.
I haven't noticed any white chunks on my tongue after drinking any Protein Drink at this point. Just the dryness from the Protein 2O. If it happens with others and not the Premier, but you're also drinking the Premier with coffee... it may be the coffee that's helping? I'm not sure on this one.
I hope your trip to your crochet group went well. If you need to get up and walk around for five minutes during the group, definitely do so.
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@Hiddenroses
I'm going to talk to my husband about ordering that GENEPRO that you mentioned and ShoppGirl mentioned. I need something to help those numbers along lol. Though two of his coworkers had the same procedure done, and they said you never eat for flavor again. You just eat because you have to eat. Which is slightly depressing but if it gets my health back... I'm still going to try to have flavor and such as I go along, but the GENEPRO is probably going to help me out in the puree stage a lot. Right now I'm surviving on Protein Shakes and protein Water.
And yay for the pillow working! It's been a lifesaver for me, honestly. I couldn't get up and down in certain chairs without it.
Okay, I'm legit jealous that you got a foaming pump style bottle of the stuff. I was literally given 2 packets of the gel and had to use both the last two showers before surgery. So they gave me nothing else for after that. I think I might feel better about showering if I had more of the stuff. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. lol
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@RRenaeL23
Look at you, go getter! A mile and a half one week post-op? Holy cow! I'm definitely not up to that yet, so congrats on your achievement!
I've got a cart started of things that I'm looking at on BariLife.com. Not sure about Clean Simple Eats, but that's another resource you might want to look into for getting smoothies and such. It's where I got my Vitamins. This cart is currently things I want to run past the hubby to see if we can get for my puree stage, which should be after Wednesday if I can ever meet my Fluid and protein goals beforehand.
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@Pepper_No_Salt
I'm looking into that variety pack on Amazon myself. I'm beyond tired of the mixed berry at this point, since it's the only flavor in town that I can drink currently. lol
Definitely take it easy if you are hurting a lot. I know I tend not to take my pain pills unless I'm pushing an 8 on the pain scale, but you also definitely don't want to do more damage to yourself. I have no idea how you have managed to hit your water and protein goals already, my surgery twin, but congrats to you. I'm definitely on the struggle bus with that one.
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@Justarwaxx
Did they not give you any contact information? That's so bizarre. My team gave me the contact information like five times to make sure I had it. Are the calories you are consuming from things on the plan? If so, then I don't think it would be a problem. But definitely make sure you reach out and try to find someone to contact to help alleviate your anxiety.
I will also say that calories were not mentioned to me by my bariatric team. They are not concerned with calories as much as protein and carbs overall. fruit and oats were also not on any of my liquid stages, like ShoppGirl said. But if they are okay with it for you, then it sounds like you are doing everything right by your team.
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Lots of love to anyone I missed! We got this! Everyone who just had surgery, I hope you are healing well. And everyone waiting, it will be worth it.

My team doesn’t really give specific calorie goals either. But everything on the list is no added sugar and non fat or low fat so with the little portions we are eating it doesn’t add up to a lot. Plus it’s not all about calories anyways. You also have to consider fat and carbs )especially added sugars). What you’re describing sounds well under 1000 calories to me though. Have you really added it up? I mean my ready made Protein Shakes are 160 or 180 calories. Even three times a day is 540 and then a tiny bit of Soup? I mean the fruit and the oats were not on my full liquid stage if that helps. But they are allowed on puréed Which I’m assuming you will be in very soon. But if they are in your list of food that are allowed then I’m guessing they know about how many calories you are getting and it’s okay. I honestly think you are doing fine. It’s so easy to stress over every little detail because we have fail at diets so many times but when you go to your post op appointments take your food log and if they feel Ike you are off track they should tell you what changes to make.