I am still presurgery, but I have questions for those of you who have had surgery. I am wanting to have my home and kitchen equipped for post surgery. What dishes scales etc do ya'll suggest. What do you wish people had told you to do that you had to figure out on your own? Any and all tips would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Anna

I bought a small food scale at walmart prior to surgery. I still use it at times.

I use small saucers to eat off of and tiny appetizer forks. Especially at first, this helps keep the bites small.

I already had a mortar and pestle to grind up my pills. I still use it daily for my calcium horse pill.

I had a regular sized blender and use that for my shakes...decided I don't need to buy a single serving blender since my regular blender works fine.

It's helpful to have a lot of the small plastic gladware containers for storing food/lunches. They hold about 3 ounces, perfect for a meal.

Make good use of the freezer or you'll be throwing away a lot of food!

I never "weighed" my food. I used the children's over-the-counter medication measuring cups early out until I could eyeball portions.

I ate and still eat off salad/saucer size plates. In the beginning, I used a baby spoon to keep from taking large bites. I had beat the learning curve pretty much because I had the band first. So, most of this was my 2nd round of learning to eat with the sleeve.

Lots of gladware various sizes for leftovers. Lots of freezer bags because you'll have to cook in much smaller portions.

I bought the instant Jello and puddings, and divided them out into the gladware. It was easier to go to the fridge grab one and go. I hate the pre-made crap in the refrigerated section.

I bought extra Splenda early on because that's what got me through all the greek yogurt I was eating at the time.

The ladies above have given great ideas. I also bought a "bullet style blender," just because I am too lazy to wash the "whole" blender. I really enjoyed popsicles, so you might want to stock up on those.

My Cuisinart stick blender has been a godsend! I use it EVERY day to make Protein shakes, blend Soups, etc. It's so easy to clean, I just rinse it off and it's ready to go again. You can blend in a cup, glass, or cooking bowl which saves on clean-up. Plus it's portable - if you go visit relatives or go on vacation just throw it in your bag.

I also made sure to have some drinkable yogurt. My doc prescribed an acid reducer in capsule form. I just open the capsule in the yogurt and drink it down. I can't even taste the meds that way. I normally get vanilla and sometimes add some banana extract for a change of pace. I also use a mortar and pestle to crush meds - I had a post-surgical complication and have to take 2 horse pill size antibiotics each day and they MUST be crushed.

I had the band for 3 years and have never weighed my food - but I'm sure it's a good habit to get into. I just don't have the patience for it! :sad0: I haven't had a problem with my body letting me know when I've had too much.