OCTOBER 2014

[Luna222 246]

Is anyone craving fresh veggies or a fresh salad? ?? I'm dying for cucumbers and hummus, or some nice crunchy carrots, or bell peppers or celery...I want a nice fresh salad with fresh veggies and a little grilled chicken, some cheese and honey mustard dressing. Mmm....3 months is going by way too slow!

[freelyme 149]

Is anyone craving fresh veggies or a fresh salad? ?? I'm dying for cucumbers and hummus, or some nice crunchy carrots, or bell peppers or celery...I want a nice fresh salad with fresh veggies and a little grilled chicken, some cheese and honey mustard dressing. Mmm....3 months is going by way too slow!

OMG yes!!! I NEED raw veggies/salad! I think I'm dying eating mushy veggies. I mean they taste good but I want sliced cucumber w hummus and just raw broccoli and cauliflower bcs they're yummy.

[j.marie 22]

Hey guys. I've been gone a while and well it's been a long 2 weeks. I have been struggling to keep up with Protein and Vitamins and I even find myself snacking on not so healthy foods. I haven't been to gym either. This is so bad! I keep telling myself tomorrow tomorrow and I never do.

Anyone in San Antonio near the north side would be much appreciated right about now.... I thinks it's the holiday blues.... And the stress at work. Ugh!!! I need to snap back and do it quick. Anyone else goes through this.... What did you do......how do I make this happen!

[Beni 1,484]

I had some food issues in the last couple week and threw up a few times. I figured it out. I learned five VERY important things that I would like to share.

1. No matter how much I chew I can't chew enough and the chunks irritate my pouch, I think. For now, I place my tiny meal in a mini food processor to blend it. I do add a little Water to allow it to come together into a puree. However, I did place it back in the pot to heat up and evaporate the extra Water as it was too liquid. Last night it was white fish, black Beans and broccoli. It was a strange shade of grey but tasted nice. I was fine!

2. I have to make sure I don't overeat. I measure my 1/4 cup and place on plate. then I add a tablespoon to the side. I eat my 1/4 cup first and give it a nice break before I try another few little bites from the tablespoon pile. Because it takes time for my pouch to tell my head I have had enough I allow time for the last few bites. Works!

3. It is very important that what I eat is fairly solid and high in Protein. It's blended but not a Soup. It takes 20 to 30 minutes to eat. This combined with a fairly thick/solid meal fills my pouch and keeps me from not being hungry for the 4 hours needed. If I eat yogurt or anything too liquid I am a little hungry in a couple hours. It goes through my pouch too quickly.

4. I also do not drink after a meal for a full hour. Now that drinking is not as difficult I can do this and I'm still getting the min 48 oz per day. It preserves my meal in my pouch to keep hunger at bay and allow for proper digestion. I don't have as much gas as a result either. I was drinking too early and washing my meal down too quickly.

5. I have to have my meals at a fairly set schedule. If I'm all over the place, I mess up and Vitamins have to be taken at 2 am and it all falls apart. It's only 3 meals, hello! it should be easy but I get busy and forget. NOPE, have to think of me first or my WLS will not be as successful.

Hope this helps. I am 6 weeks post surgery. I know lots of people can eat chunky food. I cannot yet but I will start to try again at the onset of week 7 which is Thursday. I will start with 2 or 3 solid bites at first and build from that. It could not stop throwing up after my meals. It was making my life depressing and miserable. Sometimes you have to step back a little, right?

Edited December 8, 2014 by Beni

[smiley922 447]

I sent a pm to BronxMerci, I was not sure if anyone else had. I know I am a worrywort, but this is cause for worry.

[SuzeMuze 338]

I just want to put it out there that I bow to all of you who actually put meals in a food processor during your "puree" stage! I simply couldn't do it- yuck! Fortunately, I didn't pay a price for chewing the daylights out of things to "mouth puree" them, but yay to those of you who can eat a whole meal combined in baby food form!

[amylynns 802]

Is anyone craving fresh veggies or a fresh salad??? I'm dying for cucumbers and hummus, or some nice crunchy carrots, or bell peppers or celery...I want a nice fresh salad with fresh veggies and a little grilled chicken, some cheese and honey mustard dressing. Mmm....3 months is going by way too slow!

Definitely!!!! We went to Texas Roadhouse for a birthday dinner Sunday night and that's all I wanted, was a nice green salad w/ chicken. UGH. I ordered a chicken breast, steamed veggies w/ no butter and a sweet potato, no butter. My intention was to pack up 3/4 of it right away in a to go box. Thought I'd try just 1/2 of a roll with their cinnamon butter. Well, before my meal even got there, I was sick. Started sweating and felt like I was either going to pass out or puke all over. I fanned myself with a menu and took some deep breaths. Helped a little bit, but needless to say, my meal went un-touched. I tried taking a small bit of the chicken, but the nausea was just horrid. I couldn't even stomach the thought of packing it up and taking it home! :-( Not a good evening out for me!

[amylynns 802]

I just want to put it out there that I bow to all of you who actually put meals in a food processor during your "puree" stage! I simply couldn't do it- yuck! Fortunately, I didn't pay a price for chewing the daylights out of things to "mouth puree" them, but yay to those of you who can eat a whole meal combined in baby food form!

I did puree my food for a good 2 weeks, but meat of any sort started making me really nauseated around 4 1/2 weeks out. The pureed food looked horrible, but tasted "alright." I was getting so sick of it that even thinking about pureed food made me sick to my stomach. My NUT told me to go ahead and try the next stage and I've been 95% great with it!! SO glad no more pureed!! I still do best with tilapia or chicken breast. And thank goodness, because those are 2 of my favorite things to eat!

[amylynns 802]

@Beni--Awesome post Beni with lots of good info. for those coming up on that stage!!

Sorry you had to take a step back--I did the same thing and it really did help.

So this Thursday is week 7, when you'll try some chunky food again? I think I started with wheat crackers w/ hummus. I could eat 2 crackers. It's so hard to fine "that point" right before it's one bite too much! (know what I mean?)

The other thing I've been able to eat well is Arnold's Sandwich Thins with a fried egg (w/olive oil spritz) and a sprinkle of shredded cheese. I can eat 1/2- 3/4 of it. My son usually offers to eat what I can't. :-)

Last night I had the most delicious meal and ate the whole thing with no nausea. I was so excited. I had tilapia (3oz), steamed broccoli (about 1/8 cup) and a tiny baked potato (no skin) with about a 1/2 TBS of sour cream. I think that's the most I've eaten in one sitting so far.

[amylynns 802]

I sent a pm to BronxMerci, I was not sure if anyone else had. I know I am a worrywort, but this is cause for worry.

I am SO worried as well!!! I hope she's able to respond to you to let us know she's ok. I've been thinking about her a lot.

[filmgal 45]

I am concerned too Smiley922. Hope we hear soon..

[Luna222 246]

When you all say you eat tilapia, what do you buy? Like the fresh frozen filets? Not the box of vankamps or whatever that brand is lol? I never liked fish except for frozen breaded fish sticks doused in ketchup when I was really little lol. I need to try big girl food now! I did try some chicken and broccoli from the Chinese take out last night, and THAT chicken settled just fine...I had no problems at all with any of it. Ugh. I hate this :-/ when I get in my nauseous/dumping if it's even dumping phase, I get so emotional and I cry my eyes out. My poor bf gets most of it lol. I start cursing at myself for having this surgery and it just feels soooo hopeless. Do you guys get like that?? It messes with my head! Then I will pace or sit down and rock myself like I'm crazy lol and then 20 min later I'm feeling ok, and laughing at myself. Omg I think I've lost my marbles!

[amylynns 802]

When you all say you eat tilapia, what do you buy? Like the fresh frozen filets? Not the box of vankamps or whatever that brand is lol? I never liked fish except for frozen breaded fish sticks doused in ketchup when I was really little lol. I need to try big girl food now! I did try some chicken and broccoli from the Chinese take out last night, and THAT chicken settled just fine...I had no problems at all with any of it. Ugh. I hate this :-/ when I get in my nauseous/dumping if it's even dumping phase, I get so emotional and I cry my eyes out. My poor bf gets most of it lol. I start cursing at myself for having this surgery and it just feels soooo hopeless. Do you guys get like that?? It messes with my head! Then I will pace or sit down and rock myself like I'm crazy lol and then 20 min later I'm feeling ok, and laughing at myself. Omg I think I've lost my marbles!

I buy the frozen filets. They're in a bag, and then in individual sealed bags inside. So you can make just one at a time. You can thaw one out ahead of time, or I just put it in a bowl of warm Water and it defrosts in a few minutes. I get just plain filets, no "sauce" or anything. Tilapia is a nice, mild fish. I just spray it with olive oil (using a pampered chef oil spritzer ) and then put either a lemon pepper seasoning or an "every day" Mrs. Dash's seasoning. I bake it at about 350 for a good 20-25 minutes. I like it really done, LOL.

If I do chicken breasts, I get the boneless, skinless breasts from the meat counter at the store and then bake it slowly, or put it in the crock pot. Then it's nice and tender. I usually season it with garlic salt/pepper.

I have gotten emotional a lot too! It has been better since I've been able to eat a little more variety though. But I kept thinking, "Am I EVER going to be able to eat without getting sick?" And for me, once I'm sick, I really, really don't want to eat anything else or drink....so then I get behind on my fluids---can't take my Vitamins because I haven't eaten, etc. So just a downhill spiral.

I know the roller coaster of emotions you're feeling. I feel like I don't even know myself. I don't recognize this shrinking body, it's like it's happening too quickly, even though that's what I hoped and dreamed of happening!?

I hope in time our emotions calm down!

[Beni 1,484]

@@Luna222

Eating can be stressful but I think I only made real progress when I realized I couldn't eat the way I wanted to. I had to give up the control in order to move forward. I went back and pureed all my food in the food processor. Measured my 1/4 cup and did just that. Nothing fancy just what I was supposed to eat. I feel the big struggle is trying to do what we can't. We have to learn the hard way what we can and cannot eat.

Best of luck to you. Stay the course and you will get there. But there is a learning curve for sure.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Beni

[Jyoyonomore 319]

My NUT told me that if I eat chicken stick to dark meat which I did at first. Over the weekend I tried a few bites of white meat & Pasta with a sauce and was able to eat it. This week I'm really struggling with trying to exercise indoors we've had so much rain i haven't walked outside for days. I know the lack of exercise is why I'm been eating bread & popcorn. I'm not hungry but boredom also has the effect of leading me to eat the wrong things. I went back and read my journal with my PreOp notes and that helped me cut back the starch today but got to get out & walk tomorrow.