Pureed foods. Yuck!!

[Monica Justice 0]

Hello everyone. I am post-op, had my first doctor's visit one month ago and scheduled for my second on 04/19. I am doing my best to read all of the literature provided to me as well as what I can find online. I am struggling with the thought of pureeing food. I just don't think I could bring myself to consume meat, vegetables or eggs that have been pureed. It sounds disgusting! Is this something that is a MUST or can we supplement with Protein Drinks? All input is appreciated. :0)

[ms.sss 15,748]

i also was not a fan of pureed stage to the point that i skipped it altogether. on the first day of pureed stage i blitzed some beef in my food processor, looked at it, took a whiff, then dry heaved as i dumped it all in the trash.

decided i would just extend my full liquids food stage for an extra week and then go to straight to soft foods once done. worked for me (and also for my NUT who i told what i what i decided to do...she was fine with it).

though pureed stage was around 1 month post of for me, and i was barely eating much anyway (like 300-400 cals a day i think), so it probably made no difference for me? *shrug*.

Edited April 16, 2024 by ms.sss

[Monica Justice 0]

Thanks for the input! I dry heave just thinking about pureeing solid foods. I'll make note to ask the NUT if I can skip the pureed stage.

[Nan CC 16]

I could not imagine pureed meat, and I'm not a fan of pureed vegetables. I made it through this stage with refried Beans, egg salad and tuna salad, which I mashed up enough to not have chunks of egg or tuna. I added flavor to those with a little tiny bit of dijon mustard or Pickle Juice. I ate mashed sweet potato with cinnamon and some sugar free (ok, fake) maple pancake Syrup. I ate applesauce. I also tried some pureed baby food fruits. I didn't find it difficult at all to have enough things to eat. Most bariatric cookbooks include recipes for this stage, too.

[Monica Justice 0]

Thanks! Those are great suggestions. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

[summerseeker 2,284]

I couldn't do it. I just stayed on the liquid diet for longer. My team okayed this BTW. I had Soups, mostly home made that I blended. I added lentils to the recipe to get some Protein.

You could eat cream cheese, hummus, protein yogurts. Sorry a bit brain dead its been a long day. Others will chip in

Dont overthink the process, ask here it when you get to it.

[Monica Justice 0]

I appreciate the suggestions. I'm a bit of a planner so I'm thinking ahead, maybe a little too far ahead as my surgery is a few months away.

[NickelChip 1,332]

My program skipped pureed foods and went directly to soft Proteins with the instructions to chew thoroughly. But your best bet for purees is blended Soups. You can make a very flavorful Soup and puree it, and it will still be tasty (as opposed to pureeing meat, which is gross). Bean soups and butternut squash bisque work well. You might also try a ricotta bake in that stage, which can be made by mixing a cup of ricotta and an egg, spreading this in a greased baking pan, and topping with a non-chunky marinara and some mozzarella and parmesan, and then baking at 350F until the cheese is nice and brown, maybe 30-45 minutes.

As for Protein Drinks, you should plan to be supplementing with those for quite some time, at least several weeks. Some people can get what they need from food really early, but others need at least one Protein Shake a day for several months. You also might want some plain, unflavored Protein Powder to add to things like soup or smoothies to increase Protein.

[Nan CC 16]

Yogurt, cottage cheese and cream Soups (as others have suggested) are all good at the pureed food stage, too!

[Arabesque 7,492]

The purée stage is a struggle for lots of us. A combination of the taste, smell &/or texture which is temporarily haywire post surgery. The worst things I pureed was tuna & salmon. Shudder.

I survived on runny scrambled eggs (you could mash soft poached eggs too), boiled eggs mashed with mayo, thin instant rolled oats (made in milk), yoghurt, thicker Soups (pre made or make your own & puree) & a couple of times I ate baby food. Friend said she survived on chicken breast puréed with chicken gravy - it was the only meat Protein she could tolerate.

[FifiLux 541]

I had beef mince bolognese for a lot of the pureed stage and just diced the little bit of carrot and onion up really small so I almost didn't have to bite anything. I also had lentil Soup and dhals.

[Monica Justice 0]

Thanks again everyone for your feedback. It is appreciated!

[Shanna NYC 148]

I was released from the hospital on the pureed stage (hurray for no all liquid part). But I for sure wasn't about to have pureed meats - yuck. It was a lot of more shakes, yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta bake, cheese sticks well chewed, and Soups. Mainly I did lentil veggie Soup blended and black bean soup blended. Also no sugar added applesauce and no sugar popsicles. (i do not like Jello so i skipped that option). My program didn't include tuna, mince meats or eggs at pureed stage as some do. If you do get eggs in your plan and can tolerate them, i would say to add in some cottage cheese to scramble as it makes them much creamier.

It's definitely great to plan ahead - homemade soups tend to more flavorful and you can control what's in them (and cook them down enough to not even have to puree)and then freeze them in smaller portions - however try not to over plan as your taste buds can drastically change after surgery. Sometimes it's short term - like mine was for about a month post and went back to things tasting fine - others stay with aversions to taste, texture and/or temp for a much longer time.

[Monica Justice 0]

Thanks! Appreciate the input.

[Spinoza 1,467]

Loads of useful suggestions here (as ever!) Seems such a long time ago now.

I am the exception to the rule - after 2 weeks of pre-op Protein Shakes and 2 weeks of post-op liquids my first pureed meals were like the tastiest things I've ever had. I lovvvved them. I basically pureed a selection of whatever my family were having (I cook for everyone) with a bit of extra liquid (gravy was best) and gobbled it all down! Saved a couple of tiny portions (like a tablespoon or two) for my other meals that day or the next and hit my Protein goal mainly from protein yoghurts and protein shakes.

Strangely I didn't have Soup until the next phase but it's still a big go-to for lunch now, especially with lentils for added protein.