Traveling in week 6 - what to expect

[PamelaAM 16]

I will be traveling in week 6 after my VSG.

And the worst part is that I am doing the West Coast to East Coast jaunt so there will be a whole day either in the air or at airports. Without being able to take any Protein Drinks with me because of the restrictions, can anyone give me a clue of what to expect to be able to eat at that point? Not real sure where the food selection is at 6 weeks. I just want to be able to plan ahead so I'm not freaking out! I will pack plenty of Protein drinks in my luggage but I'm more concerned about the two travel days there and back.

[Donna4545 13]

Buy some GoTein for your carryon bag and just ask for Water to mix it with. Google it.

[*susan* 1,709]

Pamela, at six weeks out you should be back on a full/normal diet. I really wouldn't anticipate any problems with eating at that point. Just make wise choices and make sure you are getting enough Protein and plenty of Water. Have a great trip.

[PamelaAM 16]

Thank you Susan. I didn't realize that there was a possibility to be on a full diet by then. I've seen so many different time lines.

[Donna4545 13]

I was just cleared for a normal diet when I had to go to the east coast for a conference. I took GoTein for being stuck in airports and on the plane (single serving, good stats, mix with water). Otherwise I ate restaurant food and had a ton of leftovers. I brought Protein powder so I could have a Breakfast in my hotel room (brought a shaker bottle and mixed it with unsweetened Starbucks iced coffee I got in the hotel lobby). Eating in restaurants wasn't hard (I just picked whatever Protein wasn't fried/breaded). Keeping the Water bottle filled was the biggest challenge.

I gained 2 lbs on my trip, I think it was travel itself, PMS Water retention, and restaurant food--but once I came home and got back on track it came right back off. I think learning how to travel with VSG is going to be something I perfect over time.

[NLWC.Christa 4]

I'm 3 weeks post-op and traveled this weekend with my mom, aunt and sister. I portioned some Protein powder into individual serving ziploc bags and chose yogurts for Breakfast. At restaurants I often had egg beaters or Soup. One restaurant we chose had a crab cake entree that was only lightly breaded, and had very little bready filler. I just picked off the crusty edges. Basically, I tried to stick to soft foods that were good sources of Protein. Of course, traveling with my own personal band of food nazis made it easier! I kept myself on track by logging every bite in my Calorie Counter app (fatsecret.com) that I installed on my mobile phone.

ETA: Our post-op diet is 2 weeks Clear liquids, 2 weeks full liquids/pureed foods then 2-4 months of soft foods. My doc has been encouraging me to try more solid foods as tolerated, and the only thing I had any issues with was the pieces of beef in some minestrone Soup I tried. The meat seemed soft and I chewed well, but it still seemed to "stick"

Edited September 5, 2010 by NLWC.Christa