am i still supposed to sip on my drinks?

(i feel i can drink normal now)

do i need to drink 15 minuts before a meal and 30 after in the soft food stage?

(really bothers me not to drink with a meal)

is chilli considered a soft food?

(just wondering)

what are the best low carb/diet type soft foods?

(noticed in the grocery store everything related to soft food was extremely high in carbs and what not)

am i still supposed to sip on my drinks?

(i feel i can drink normal now)

Drink as you can, just take it easy. Your band will tell you if you are pushing it.

do i need to drink 15 minuts before a meal and 30 after in the soft food stage?

(really bothers me not to drink with a meal)

Yes. No time like the present to get used to this. Honest, in time you won't miss it all. I promise.

is chilli considered a soft food?

(just wondering)

Depends....how big are the pieces of beef or pork? Some chili has big chunks, some don't. Plus if the Beans are solid form, that will be too hard to manage. Put it all in a blender and you should be good to go.

what are the best low carb/diet type soft foods?

(noticed in the grocery store everything related to soft food was extremely high in carbs and what not)

Cottage cheese ROCKS the Protein and almost no carbs. Well chopped egg salad. Tuna with mayo blended down. chicken salad blended down. Protein shakes. Hot and sour Soup from your local chinese place. Egg drop soup too. broth type Soups (like veggie beef) blended down.

But honestly, for now, in the mushie stage, I wouldn't worry to much about it. You have to just eat soft for now. Start lo carb in earnest when you go on more solids.

While you probably *can* drink normally now, its best to be in the habit of sipping. I made the mistake of not doing that and after my first fill, took a big gulp of Water while driving down the road in rush hour. Had a massive PB, on a huge 5 lane bridge that was bumper to bumper .. not pretty LOL.

It bothers me not drinking with a meal as well. I choked once when younger and I'm always paranoid that will happen now. Again though, its best to get in the habit of this if you can. It will make it easier come fill time.

When I was on soft foods/mushies, the blender was my friend. Chunky soups and chili I tossed in the blender with a lil bit of water. It tasted the same, just wasn't chunky anymore.

While right now, you probably won't get as much Protein as you'd like, things like tuna salad (if you make it creamy enough) or frozen fish with sauce (lean cuisine has a few different varieties of this) are quite nice. Tuna mornay was another thing that I was allowed to have after a while on mushies. Protein shakes can help too. This is a time for healing though, so eat what you can and don't worry *too* much about the carb levels and such. It will all even itself out when you get onto solids.

Good luck with it all

Great ideas thanks !!! I'm heading into the mushies tomorrow (okay today I couldn't wait LOL)

I had refried Beans for dinner and peas. I do notice that 1/2 a cup is not enuf food for me, it keeps me wandering around the kitchen looking for more so I had 1 cup. I'm still eating to fast so I'm trying to work on that. For lunch today I had tuna salad, like 3 oz. I didn't mash it but I chewed the crud out of it.

Do you think I'm hurting myself by eating 1 cup of food? I don't feel any discomfort but I'm afraid now that I think about it that I might be stretching my pouch.

thanks !!

Eileen, it's not unusual to be able to eat around 1 cup when you don't have a fill. Just take it slow and be sure to really concentrate on those signs you get of being full. Remember to stop eating BEFORE you are full because you can get over full and that HURTS.

Thanks Karen. Its hard to feel full, even after a cup of food my tummy feels hungry. I'm stoping b/c I'm scared but then 1-2 hrs later I'm very hungry.

Bottomless Pit !! lol

OMG, I remember my first day of mushies, it was heaven. We were having our Christmas party for our employees, (at the local bar, hey, they're roofers), and we had a buffet set up. I made sure there were plenty of mashed taters and gravy, this place puts garlic in the potatoes and they were to die for, one lil spoon full at a time. It was like eating ice cream. I'm so excited for you.

I'm on soft foods (just added fish) my favorites are:

dannon yogurt w/fiber (you will be thankful for the Fiber believe me.)

low fat cheese sticks these have 9 grams of protien each. (dip them in low calorie marinara sauce for a great fix)

Fat Free refried Beans with a little ff chedder cheese melted on top and a bit of salsa

Hummus...been making my own, great stuff...eat with crackers..pita is a little hard at first...though I can handle it now

I like ff sugar free hot cocoa mixed with blended and heated carb countdown milk (the bilo store brand is like 40 calories and 4 gram protien, put carb countdown in it and for like 80 calories you get in 10 grams of protien.

1 egg blended with 1 oz milk with like 1 oz of chedder cheese

Peanut Butter on 1/2 of an english muffin (just eat slowly...toast the english muffin and might not be the easist first thing in the morning.

Laughing cow low fat cheese is good on english muffins too.

Melissa

Dagnabit. I'm still 4 days more on liquids and this thread is killing me!

Love the ideas! Bring em on. I'll get to them soon!

Charlie

OK charlie and bandman -- here's one for you. I am technically on liquids too still but tomorrow marks 3 weeks with my band. I cannot look at anymore soup or jello and my last protein shake actually gagged me! I went to my favorite mexican restaurant, brought home chili and put it in the blender (with just a touch of water). I ate it topped with guacamole and sour cream. Probably not the best low fat or cholesterol choice, but I figure I eat so little and it's my big treat for the day. By the time my Dr appt rolls around it's almost 4 weeks on liquids. I just couldn't hack it anymore! I had no probs whatsoever. I tried tuna salad yesterday and got stuck though -- tuna is not very forgiving

Bandayed I had tuna the past few days and it really went down well, I chewed the mush until it almost melted in my mouth and the tuna even had onions and celery in it, maybe you need to chop it up more?

Your chili sounds devine. I'm supposed to start mushies tomorrow but I'm going nuts so I started on friday.

I made some mashed cauliflower today mmmm mmmm.

Charlie, I really do feel for you, I can't wait to take a bite of something "normal" lol.

Bandman,

To your response "Really bothers me not to drink with a meal?"

This might help?

I was told by my doctor that wanting to drink with a meal is not from being thirsty, but from your mouth being dry. If you feel you have to drink something during a meal try just taking some Water in your mouth and then spitting it out. Or use one of those wet sponge sticks we got in the hospital. This is not a long term solution, but it can help in getting adjusted to the no drinking during meals rule. I'm the same as you, always drank 3 or more glasses with a meal. This trick helped me. I started it 2 weeks before I had my surgery to start to get use to it.

Good Luck!