Hi all!

Waiting for sleeve approval. I wanted to know what foods can you eat once you are advanced to soilds? From what I see, it seems so limited. Thanks

Hi, not sure if someone will read my question here so I may post the same question as a separate topic but I see from reading all the replies here that a person w/the sleeve can eat a good variety of foods. My question is, can I eat all the foods together? For example, normally if I eat meat, it's meat, veggies like English peas and/or green Beans or corn and maybe some sweet potato if I have it. I realize the major reduction in the amount of what I can eat w/the sleeve, but have some confusion on that...is it one food item per meal, for instance, do I only get to eat a small piece of meat...nothing else...at, say lunch, then for dinner, small amt of veggies? Or can I eat the meat & veggies together? What about sweet potato for an added measure? I'm trying to avoid white potatoes due to the starch but am learning to like the sweet potato (I actually cannot stand them, lol but I'll eat them b/c they're good for me).

I guess my question is, do I get a 'real' meal or is it one tiny piece of meat and that's it for my meal for a few hours then I can eat a spoonful of veggies for my next meal? Kinda confused on the quantity of the meal. If anyone can give me some insight, it'd be much appreciated. Sorry if my question is confusing.

--Slowkat.

It is really one of these "it depends" type of things. The general rule is to have your Protein first and then some veg or whatever if you have room. I never had much problem getting in my protein allotments (doc was adding veg to my diet at the 10 day follow up checkup) so I have been able to fudge some on that rule. Also, my sleeve seems to be fairly predictable day to day while some people report large variations in their restriction levels from one day to the next. Since I know that I will be getting my protein in for the day, I can have small salads with leftover meat, meat and veg stews, chilis, stir-fries and the like and not have to pick the meat out first.

One of the advantages to mixing your protein and veg is that much of the veg tends to be a slider (at least they are for me,) so while my comfortable capacity is about 3 oz of meat protein, if I cut that back a bit (or sometimes not, depending,) and add some veg in a combined dish, I can comfortably have 5 oz or so of the mix. That adds some useful nutrition with little calories.

I am like you in that I'm not much for sweet potatoes. I never bothered adapting to them and just used regular potatoes when appropriate - often an ounce or so of roasted yukon golds - as they both are one of the most calorically efficient sources of potassium (which we need but don't supplement effectively.)

I guess it all comes down to philosophy - yours and your docs. Some people don't want to have anything other than the bare necessity level of protein in as few calories as possible, while others (like me) seek to get as much balanced nutrition in as makes sense with whatever caloric restrictions we are using. I preferred to eat as normally as reasonably possible during the loss phase to help make the transition to maintenance easier.