really struggling

[xxaprilrose 3]

I had my surgery on the 3rd (2 weeks ago) and right now the diet I was given is scrambled eggs, tuna, toast, crackers, mashed potatoes and some other stuff i will never eat. I have stuck to each weeks diet and even been meeting my 64 oz Water intake a day but today its hitting me really hard. I just want a meal. Like good food meal. Its so hard watching people eat all these delicious foods and driving by everything i love and not being able to enjoy any of it. I know, I have 4 weeks until I can taste good food again but I was almost in tears today. And I am ALWAYS hungry. So hungry. Even when I drink any liquids when it goes down it kind of hurts my stomach because it feels so empty. But its not? Is this normal? Anyways, how do yall do it? Any tips?

[Kris77 1,539]

Hey there. Try and focus on the prize when you are feeling like you want to go to the old places to eat that you went to before.
A lot of times it’s only head hunger. Head hunger is real and it takes mental work to figure out how to recognize when it’s that or actual hunger.
Distract yourself with a bike ride, a walk, drink some Water etc
If I were you, I’d stay away from all those tempting places until you become confident in your ability to resist.
You CAN do this. Hang in there. This website is amazing so I’m glad you posted here. There are so many people on here that may have better advice than mine. I hope I was able to help a little.

[Arabesque 7,504]

You can eat toast & crackers? I would have been jumping for joy. You can have textured food!! On weeks 3 & 4 I was on purées: baby food slop.

A lot of what you’re feeling is psychological. As we say, you have to do the head work as you progress. Your head & emotions can really mess with you. We’ve all been there. As @Kris77 said, some of this could be head hunger. Your brain is looking for those other foods because they comfort you & you’re pretty stressed & sad at the moment. It’s an awful cycle. I’m sad I want a piece of cake. I can’t have cake which makes me sad. You’ve had pretty major surgery & your emotions & hormones are all upside down now too which also contributes. As Kris suggested, find something to distract yourself. Often a craving will pass in 30mins or so if you stop focussing on it.

Often you think how can this little amount of food fill me up. It can’t satisfy my hunger. But this is your new tummy. It’s 80%+/- smaller now so it doesn’t take much to fill it. You’ll also find as you’re eating more solid food, you’ll start to feel more ‘full’ or you’ve had enough. liquids go through your tummy quickly & you don’t get that full feeling so you think you haven’t eaten enough & must still be hungry or need more food. You will likely also discover your full & real hunger signals are different than before.

Something you probably don’t want to hear is that you may need to reevaluate what you see as ‘good’ food. Is it nutrient dense food that nourishes your body or does it just feed your emotional needs? The nutrient dense ‘healthy’ food on your recommended eating plan is plenty tasty & satisfying. There are many ways to cook it & add herbs & spices for flavour. You’ll even work out out healthier ways to prep some of your favourites. I had spaghetti bolognese, a favourite, in my soft food stage. Cooked the meat sauce for ages & served it with zucchini noodles & Parmesan. Could only eat 1/3 cup but it was damn delicious.

Remember to sip & eat slowly. If you feel some discomfort wait until it passes. The discomfort could be from eating too much or too quickly. Put your fork down between bites & your glass down between sips. And wait between eating & drinking. If you do experience, sharp cutting pains across your tummy it can be from too much acid in your tummy. And too much acid or a noisy tummy can make you think you’re hungry when you’re really not. Many surgeons prescribe a PPI after surgery to help combat the extra acid. If you weren’t, ask your doctor for a script.

Hope I haven’t scared you. You will get through this. And if you need support or advice, plenty here willing to do so. All the best & sorry for the long post.

[Tufflaw 465]

One of the problems people face after surgery, especially early on, is the feeling that you have to deny yourself certain things that you've always enjoyed, when that isn't entirely true. If there was a favorite food you had, you can still have it - just a much smaller portion. Or look for an alternative like the previous poster described.

I've loved pizza my whole life. My wife and I would order a large pie and I'd eat half of it. I haven't tried pizza since my revision surgery, but after I was sleeved after a few months I would occasionally have ONE slice of pizza which would fill me up and make me feel like I wasn't depriving myself.

Sometimes I'd make cauliflower crust pizza which was pretty good once I got the hang of it. They now sell premade cauliflower crust pizza which can be very tasty if you get the right brand.

One of my absolute favorite meals that I made after my sleeve was the Eggface Ricotta Bake, it's super easy to prepare and tastes like lasagna. https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1793517

In fact I think I inspired myself, I'm going to make it this weekend!