Search the Community

Not that familiar with the switch surgery but I presume it would be the same for all surgeries in that after the surgery there is a new "standard" to meal sizes. If you went back to eating what would be a normal size meal pre-op you would probably make yourself ill and uncomfortable as you can't fit the food in. I am almost a year and a half out (sleeve) and if I had to have a sandwich I would have half per meal but I am trying to stay away from bread/pasta/rice as much as possible as they take up space in my smaller stomach that should have proteins as the priority. I was in the US recently and was happy to see that Pret did half portions so I just got their one half chicken and avocado to have when on the go. For me I still find that for breakfast a yogurt, for lunch and dinner 150ml/3oz of food with a small snack a while later is sufficient for me main meal wise. I think have protein drink or bar as snacks if needed. When eating out I usually just have a starter and would not always finish. If ordering a main course I usually manage 1/3, or 1/2 if it is a small one, and bring the rest home.

Same! I love cottage cheese and have been eating it since I was a kid. Growing up cottage cheese and canned pears were my jam! Since surgery, I have eaten a lot of cottage cheese. I mostly eat it by itself as a snack. I haven't eaten a lot of fruit yet but will sometimes eat some frozen blueberries with it. I don't really cook with it so I cant really help with that. I don't love plain Greek yogurt so I would rather put cottage cheese in anything that calls for that.

You've heard "cottage cheese" a lot, for me its been "Greek yogurt"! Between the dieticians and this forum I'm up to my eyeballs in hearing it! Every single time I spoke with the dieticians they mentioned it..you'd think they owned stock in Fage! I only use it as a replacement for sour cream since it tastes like sour cream and not yogurt to me since it has that sour cream bitter sour taste. I do like the pineapple " cottage cheese" although I keep it to a minimum... what with pineapple having lots of sugars!

I have the weird post-covid effect of yogurt (all yogurts!) tasting metallic. So cottage cheese has replaced it for me. I eat mine with a handful of blueberries and a sprinkle of chopped walnuts.

A good tip would be to have a mix fat and carbs every couple of hours to help you steady your weight so things like dates + tahini or nuts, Avocado milkshakes, full fat chocolate milk and a couple of tbsps. of peanut butter, Full fat yogurt with nuts, full fat milk with honey, just generally nothing low carb/low fat. For me personally, protein fills me up way too quick so maybe try high fat, high carb moderate or lower protein until you stabilize. Sorry you are going through this, please make sure to see your healthcare provider ASAP.

Yea. I figure that I go over my protein goal on days by two or three grams so that one random day wont kill me. I try to do a shake or a yogurt but I don’t force myself too much.

I make a very similar mix for my kids and I top their oatmeal with it, sometimes even their pancakes. I mix it with raw cocoa powder and it makes oatmeal much more fun to eat. You can also top your yogurt with it with some berries.

I've been trying to puree tuna with some yogurt instead of mayo and I think it's just too much for me right now. (three weeks post op) But I I've definitely taken the advice about blended thick soups so they are thinner and cottage cheese. I also had some cream of tomato soup and blended some cottage cheese into it and it enhanced the flavour of both. I used to love cottage cheese when I lived in the US, but it doesn't have the same texture as the UK so I didn't like it anymore. Now, it's a godsend. Funny how life works. I'm really struggling with purees so I'm going to stay on liquids for an extra week.

I would try on yogurt, cottage cheese or in an oatmeal/porridge (Do people even eat porridge anymore? 🤔)

Well I had a revision (no surgery on my stomach) so I won’t even talk about portion. Also, I’m pretty active (2-3 hours of at least walking) so take this with a grain of salt but my calories are around 900-1000, protein is 90 plus, net carbs are 60-70, sugar is usually under 20 but my max is 30, fiber is still too low but around 10-15 with the fiber powder, fat is 20-30, water is about 80, and calcium is usually around 1800 or above. I was told that calories alone don’t mean much at all and carbs and fat depend significantly on what kinds of carbs and fat. Carbs from fruit and veggies are usually fine in our portions and healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and nuts or low fat dairy are okay too but you do have to measure of course and not have them multiple times. It’s when you get into the processed stuff that you have to watch them numbers so much closer. They sneak things in. I have noticed that the low carb stuff is usually really high in fat. My goal is to keep it to Whole Foods as much as I can. So far I have had the occasional low carb wrap, Turkey jerky, yogurt drinks, and quest potato chips in terms of packaged food. Ooh and that burrito wrap I had to seriously budget for. But I mean like twice or three times a month. Your team will have the best info for what’s right for you though. So many things make these numbers different for everyone. Did you ever find an app that you can access to log your food?. It has really helped me. Usually when I sit down to have lunch, I enter my breakfast, my lunch and play around with ideas for dinner and snack and see how that works out in terms of macros. I always have fish and frozen low carb veggies that I can pull out of the freezer if I am too high for the day. I found these burritos that supposedly freeze well I wanted to make but they used a real tortilla. They do not have the big ones in the low-carb version. I looked everywhere but I needed the bigger one and order get enough protein. I wanted to make those four nights in a row but every time I entered them I was going over on something. I finally was able to have them last night but all I had was my morning proffee and five egg whites with pico de gallo for lunch. Then I added a little bit more cheese because I was 2 g low on protein. Anyways, it makes it so much easier to be able to plug these things in and you can delete and try something else if it doesn’t work or add or subtract snacks. The only thing that I do not enter, but I always allow myself to have. I kind of learned on the preop diet was the sugar-free popsicles they’re actually 15 cal I believe but they were free foods on my preop diet and I keep them that way in my mind. It keeps me thinking that I’m never going to be not allowed to have food. Mentally it somehow makes me think that I don’t have to starve. I can always have something.. I actually really enjoyed them the tropical flavor ones on my preop but I haven’t wanted sweets very often since. I have had them a couple of times when I wake up late wanting something though.

I never did puree because the idea of eating blended food was just BLECH. I went from liquids to soft, mushed foods. So I did liquids for 2 weeks, then I did soft, mushy foods for 3 weeks. I ate things like creamy soup, refried beans, mashed potatoes, avocado spread, hummus, yogurt, mashed black beans, and then the 3rd week I ate tuna, cottage cheese, SUPER steamed veggies, etc... But I only ate about 2 to 2 1/2 oz each time because there was NO WAY I could eat more.

When I had Tuna for the first time, it was in my soft food stage and it was heavy to eat. In puree, I stuck with cottage cheese, creamy soups, yogurt, mashed beans, and "ricotta bake". I would say try puree, but nix the tuna for now. I wasn't eating more than a 1/4 cup at a time.

I wouldn't worry too much about if you have done any damage - I highly doubt you have! Especially if you have been following the recommendations of your surgical team. It is a little bit of hit and miss learning in the early stages - what feels good, what doesn't etc. If you think a puree is too thick, just thin it out a little bit and then gradually increase! For example, I'd have yogurts but just thin it out with milk. My surgeon literally recommended that I have a week on each stage, so that just goes to show you that the gap can be quite small! So long as you aren't in any severe or prolonged pain, I think you should be okay! Always reach out to your surgical team if you are worried though

Yesterday’s lunch and dinner and today’s breakfast. Lunch- after pics of the salad and mini cannolis. I only ate 2 bites of soup as lunch just wasn’t my jam. Dinner- only grabbed an after of the salad but ate a small roll with about a tsp butter, 3/4 the steak, 4 bites of the underside of the chicken (it was dry and the sauce was gross), both carrots, 2 bites of asparagus (less than 1/2 a spear), and about 1/3 of the mashed potatoes underneath. I ate about 1/4 of the 2 desserts offered because I split with a friend. I also had some 1/3 cup street corn dip, 2 mini pita, half an eggroll filled with black beans and corn, a mini eggroll, and 2tbsp hummus as a snack yesterday and chips with queso during bingo. I gave my alcoholic drink tickets to someone else because after half a glass of champagne I was done drinking alcohol. Breakfast- coffee had half and half and I drank it all. Drank about 6oz of the milk but ate the yogurt and oatmeal. I didn’t eat any of the mid-morning pastries offered today and the boxed lunch I picked was a roasted vegetable wrap with balsamic dressing, 4oz of potato salad, a cookie and I stopped and picked up green beans from the truck stop. I ate 1/4 cup of the green beans, 3/4 of the potato salad, pulled off about a 1/3 of the tortilla before eating the wrap and gave away the cookie. I can’t wait to have surgery next week because within 1-3hrs of eating I’m in unbelievable pain. I can chug my water like I could a few months ago for the same reason and I’m over it.

Good morning all! I am struggling. Surgery was 10/01 and I have been dealing with morning nausea. It sucks. I can’t really eat or drink anything till 10am ish and the through of protein shakes and yogurt 🤢. Please tell me I am not the only one experiencing this. It’s causing me to NOT hit my goals for water or protein. UGH

I just chop them in half, scoop out the seeds. Rub it with oil and garlic and add salt and pepper. I roast it in the oven, I don't own a airfryer. You can also rub it with any spice rub of your choosing, I love za'atar and it tastes delicious with mint,yogurt sauce

I'm starting my purée foods stage today. I'm eating tuna mashed with low fat yogurt. I'm just glad it's not soup.

My first 4 days are total liquid then thicken liquid, then something like cottage cheese, yogurt etc, then purée meat , veggies Uck! All within a months time.

some things i've eaten the past week... 1) ½ an oven roasted acorn squash with butter and seasonings: est. 150 cals. ate ½ 2) homemade cabbage soup with 5 homemade pork and cabbage meatballs: est. 400 cals, ate/drank it all except for 2 meatballs. 3) ben & jerry's coffee ice cream, sour cream and onion chips, and a dark chocolate Godiva truffle: est. 500 cals, ate it all. 4) beet salad (beets, feta, balsamic glaze, green onion, ginger, vinaigrette): est. 275 cals, ate it all. 5) 1/4 sesame bagel w/ cream cheese and feta, roasted pork belly slices w/ ginger onion condiment : est. 550 calories, ate it all. 6) raspberry (9%) yogurt cup with black pepper: 175 cals, ate it all

I did the small meals throughout the day too. Mine is every three hours but I have alarms set to remind me or I would never remember because I don’t feel hungry either. Speaking of jerky. Chomps brand makes a turkey jerky that is pepperoni flavored that’s really good. That and cheese sticks are super convenient for on the go. Ooh and the yogurt drinks if you can find one that relatively clean. I did find one but it’s pricey so I started making my own. It’s really easy just Greek yogurt, milk and fruit in a blender. i use a container of non fat plain greek yogurt, 1/4 cup berries and 1/2 cup of almond milk. I just drink it out of the nutra bullet cup if I’m home but I also wash and reuse the containers from the ones I purchased to take on the go. They are $4 each in the store for the ones without added garbage and I always have fruit and almond milk on hand that usually goes to the waste anyways so I just have to buy the yogurt which is a lot cheaper than 4 bucks each.

The only way I can tell I am hungry is that I am tired or dizzy. Rarely do I actually feel hungry. I actually eat every 1.5-2hours. Small high protein snacks through out the day with 3 smaller more balanced meals (veggies, fruit, carbs ect). Its super important to feed your body so you can sustain workouts, working, or life lol I would try and make it a habit of eating more often. idk if you like to meal prep but egg cups for bfast, lunch chicken salad or a bowl of some time, snacks can be yogurt and granola, cheese stick and jerky...

It *could* be hypoglycemia. To prevent that, you're supposed to eat something about every three hours. Preferably a protein if it's WLS-related. Even a thing of yogurt is fine.

Yes - I have that. Or at least that is what my physician thought after I had occasional symptoms like that and they couldn't find anything else wrong with me (had the workup about four years ago). She said to eat something about every three hours - preferably a protein or something paired with a protein. It works - I rarely have those symptoms any more. P.S. any kind of protein is fine - even a thing of yogurt.

Don’t forget to tell them exactly what you’re doing fitness wise and ask whether you need to adjust your protein and carbs. Also ask what your portions should look like up until your next appointment portion wise. Also I thought of you while I was having my yogurt drink. They are just Greek yogurt and fruit with a little milk (I use almond milk just because it doesn’t expire as fast so I don’t waste as much). They sell some in the stores but you have to watch the added sugars and the ones without it are pricey. They are simple enough to make. I do them in the nutra bullet because I have one and you can drink it right out of that cup you blend in so you don’t waste as much when it sticks to the blender and then the glass. Anyways, this is a really good source of protein when you’re sick of shakes but not really hungry. I often end up having them for night snacks when I get to the end of the day and my protein is low.

I looked up a few recipes online because I don't normally like them. But I make a lentil soup that's yummy. And I make a chili and a 3 bean salad that really ups the fiber and protein. I also use the pasta for not only mac n cheese but also a type of goulash. I use the pasta and add spaghetti sauce, ground beef, and 3 different beans. I also add shredded cheese that I melt on top. OMG it's amazing. And the protein and fiber are really high. I make a spinach salad with chick peas, some kind of meat (steak or chicken), cheese, bacon bits, artichoke hearts (also high in fiber), avocado, black olives, and hardboiled eggs. I like to make fruit smoothies with almond milk or I'll do a fruit salad with banana, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, apple, and I mix it with greek yogurt. All of these recipes have high protein, fiber, and healthy fat content.