Leaderboard

Hey there, fellow Massachusetts person! Here are a few options that might work for you for protein: If you like soups such as creamy tomato, butternut bisque, etc., add a scoop or two (10-20g protein) of unflavored protein powder such as Isopure or Syntrax to the soup. Also, if you make a canned soup like cream of chicken, make it with Fairlife skim milk for even more protein. 1/2 a cup cream of chicken with 1 scoop of protein would give you about 17g protein. If you are at a stage where you can have apples, make a great protein dip by taking 1 cup Greek yogurt and adding one serving chocolate protein powder and 1 scoop powdered peanut butter and eat 1/2 cup with 1/2 an apple. This gives you around 25g protein depending what brands you are using and tastes delicious. A great source of plant-based protein is edamame, which they sell already shelled and lightly salted, ready to eat, in the produce section of Hannaford (and probably other stores, I would assume). Also, four of the cracker-sized slices of Cabot cheddar have 8g protein, and if you pair it with Triscuit thins, that's another 3g for a nice 10g snack (when you can have crackers).

Now that I'm in maintenance mode, I'm getting a into a routine for my meals. Every day, I start out with 8-16 ounces of water, and then a proffee, which I have come to look forward to even the night before. My proffees are simply a black coffee with a protein powder added. There are three products that I cycle through: Premier Vanilla, Orgain Vanilla, and Dymatize Vanilla. For second breakfast on workdays, I will have a low-fat yogurt with two tablespoons of PBFit and two teaspoons of no sugar added dried cherries. I will have ingested 35-45 grams of protein at this point between the two breakfasts, with 250-285 calories, and about 20 carbs. For second breakfast on non-workdays, I will prepare two servings of plain, instant oatmeal with a tablespoon of an olive oil-based spread. This means I will have had 34 grams of protein, 365 calories, and 38 carbs. Non-workdays are when I am being very active with training sessions, so I allow myself more carbohydrate fuel. Snacks on any day are always mixed nuts, even when I am travelling. I will have 0.2 cups of a blend that I make myself. It consists of dry roasted peanuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, and Brazil nuts. This is 5 grams of protein, 163 calories, and 7 carbs. Breakfast and snacks have been the easiest to nail down. Lunch and dinner have more variables, and I prepare enough for leftovers. I concentrate on protein first, and then add vegetables. Typically tempeh, tofu, or Field Roast products with roasted or sautéed vegetables. Today, I will be eating leftovers from last night. Two ounces of tempeh with four ounces of roasted vegetables that consist of red and yellow sweet peppers, sweet potatoes, small purple potatoes, zucchini, and carrots. I will add a tablespoon of olive oil-based spread, break up 3 walnuts to sprinkle of top, and garnish with two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese. This particular meal will be 19 grams of protein, 377 calories, and 28 grams of carbs. Bear in mind that I do eat more carbs when I am not working, and I focus on ingesting healthy carbs instead of breads/crackers/chips/crisps. It's a helluva journey and I'm thankful to be on it!

I wouldn't jump ahead. They have these food progressions for a reason. You'll be able to have other things soon enough - and at some point, all food restrictions will be lifted. I know it's hard, but just hang in there..

Thank you too! Recovery has been really smooth so far. The hardest part was my overnight in the hospital—my nurse refused to let us sleep and wanted us to drink two ounces of water per hour, which felt impossible at the time. Once I got home, I was able to do it no problem. Everything seems to be healing well and I haven’t had any digestive issues or needed pain meds, which has been a blessing.

I had the Pho broth from week one, I made it myself so it was not too salty or chilli hot. It was so good I could have bathed in it. At 2 years + now, I can manage a couple of spoons of noodles at the end of the meal. I don't crave mountains of noodles now, I am used to just a few for the mouth feel.

Thank you NickelChip for these ideas. I'm also having trouble. I asked my surgeon if my sugar addiction was going to be a problem after surgery and he said "no". Since I had the sleeve, I don't get dumping syndrome when I eat sugary things. I start over every morning, every afternoon, and every evening - lol. Because of back pain, I hadn't been able to walk very often, but I've been trying to get around the neighborhood a 1-2 times a day on the days I work from home. I want to get serious with weight loss so that my pain will lessen. I know sugar is an inflammatory agent - but, sugar addiction is real. brandycsiz we can do it!

What else is allowed on your program? Some are more lenient than others. Mine allowed tomato or strained cream soups, for example. Although lobster bisque has got to be one of the richest soups I've ever encountered. It's so full of calories and fat, not to mention lobster is not as easy to digest as, say, flaky white fish. I honestly can't imagine eating this 4 days post-op. Greek yogurt would be a healthier option, or strained cream of chicken soup. So, the issue with coffee is caffeine, which dehydrates. If you said you were getting 64+ oz water every day, no problem, I might shrug at a little bit of coffee. Some programs allow a cup a day. But given that you're struggling to hit even a much more modest 48oz goal, I wouldn't drink something that is known to dehydrate you. Could you try decaf instead? I drink a 32 oz travel mug of decaf tea every morning and it goes down so smoothly, better than water, and counts toward my hydration goal. Ultimately, taking a bite or sip of something forbidden isn't as big an issue as why you're doing it. When I am tempted to do something not approved on my plan, I have tried to ask myself why, and get to the bottom of it, because what can quickly undo all your best efforts and intentions is not being in a healthy headspace. Is there something going on that will continue to drive you to push the limits, or lead to a slippery slope? That's something only you can know. I totally understand how boring and disgusting the options get that first week post-op. But it's really such a short time. For me, my program allowed soft proteins at one week post-op. That's really not so long to wait. Your body doesn't need much right now. If you're like me, you don't even experience hunger yet. So "needing" something different is mostly head hunger, which can get a lot more dangerous as you go along. Bending the rules now makes it a lot more likely you will bend them later, too.

This is what I was thinking of doing with my meals, prepare the size that's recommended and then eat it in 2 shifts if needed. I did speak to the nurse at my doctor's office yesterday about the recent vomiting and she wanted me to go back to liquids at least through today. Not sure if they'll want me to do any tests but she was going to check in with the surgeon and the dietician for their opinions and get back to me today.

Just follow the recommended diet initially while your stomach heals. Time flies faster than you think. I would take your medications unless your doctor told you not to. Just remember to drink slowly! Sent from my SM-G981U1 using Tapatalk

Abdominal distention can be a sign of gynecological problems (ovarian cancer among other things). Please get it checked out asap.