I have my sleeve scheduled for Monday 11/21/11, my question is for all of you who have already been sleeved, what is your typically daily diet like after surgery?

An ever changing answer ...

Week 1: Protein shakes and Water throughout the day. broth Soup for dinner. Never did get my 60g of protein or 64 oz of water, but I did my best.

Week 2: Same as week 1, but added applesauce (2 teaspoons) whenever I could.

Week 3-5: Added pureed Soups. Made a ham and lentil soup. Blended it smooth. Yummy. Also added cottage cheese. chicken soup was good, too, but loved the lentil.

Week 6-8: Didn't blend the soups quite as much. Started eating real foods. Fish, chicken, tuna ... but only like 2 or 3 bites. Loving them soups.

From there on, I just slowly introduced foods back into the diet. I still don't eat breads or rice as my restriction is pretty good. I want to save room for the Proteins and veggies. After 12 weeks, I was able to add salads, and that has been great. Such flavors with adding cheeses and dressings. I add chicken or tuna for my main protein and cheeses for a little extra. (Crumbled blue cheese ...yum!)

I had to slowly transition into eating again. I had to do liquids, then purees, then solids.

Now that I am almost 7 months out, I pretty much eat whatever I want. I always do my protein first and don't eat pasta, rice, chips, cookies, pies, cakes etc. But, if I want some chocolate, I have a piece. I didn't however, eat anything but protein and a few veggies/fruit for 6 months. I got to goal really fast by sticking to my dr.'s rules.

Now, I eat what I want and don't worry too much because I know I can't eat too much of anything!!

Good luck to you!

Kelly

I'm only about 6 wks out and still mainly drinking my protein. I have protein shake in the morning and sip two nectar roadside lemonade protein drinks throughout the day. Then if I am able to get in any food protein I'm ahead. For lunch a little cottage cheese or yogurt or tuna. and when I say "little", I mean real little. What's great, I'm actually full with it. What's not great, is when I take one small bite of chicken but don't chew good and that's it. Like tonight, you know how you quickly grab a bit while your plating dinner. That's what I did and two bites later of not chewing good and that was it for dinner. I'm still learning to slow down and to pick your bites carefully because you don't get many, make them count.

I agree with those above. Protein drinks/broth/liquids for the pre-op liquid diet and for a week after surgery, then I moved on to adding in scrambled eggs, pureed soups, and other mushy foods. Then I was able to slowly add in softer foods until I hit my 5 week mark. After that I can have almost anything I want.

I eat ribs, chicken, tuna, shrimp, Protein Bars and cheese. I can't drink milk right now, but cheese is going down okay again.

My one piece of advice is don't overbuy on the Protein shakes or mixes because so many people find that they can't handle the flavor after surgery.

Did u also have Snacks in the day like Jello or popsicles? Or sips of milk? I'm on mushies but I snack on these things. :0/

An ever changing answer ...

Week 1: Protein shakes and Water throughout the day. broth soup for dinner. Never did get my 60g of protein or 64 oz of water, but I did my best.

Week 2: Same as week 1, but added applesauce (2 teaspoons) whenever I could.

Week 3-5: Added pureed soups. Made a ham and lentil soup. Blended it smooth. Yummy. Also added cottage cheese. chicken soup was good, too, but loved the lentil.

Week 6-8: Didn't blend the soups quite as much. Started eating real foods. Fish, chicken, tuna ... but only like 2 or 3 bites. Loving them soups.

From there on, I just slowly introduced foods back into the diet. I still don't eat breads or rice as my restriction is pretty good. I want to save room for the Proteins and veggies. After 12 weeks, I was able to add salads, and that has been great. Such flavors with adding cheeses and dressings. I add chicken or tuna for my main protein and cheeses for a little extra. (Crumbled blue cheese ...yum!)

Did u also have Snacks in the day like Jello or popsicles? Or sips of milk? I'm on mushies but I snack on these things. :0/

An ever changing answer ...

Week 1: Protein shakes and Water throughout the day. broth soup for dinner. Never did get my 60g of protein or 64 oz of water, but I did my best.

Week 2: Same as week 1, but added applesauce (2 teaspoons) whenever I could.

Week 3-5: Added pureed soups. Made a ham and lentil soup. Blended it smooth. Yummy. Also added cottage cheese. chicken soup was good, too, but loved the lentil.

Week 6-8: Didn't blend the soups quite as much. Started eating real foods. Fish, chicken, tuna ... but only like 2 or 3 bites. Loving them soups.

From there on, I just slowly introduced foods back into the diet. I still don't eat breads or rice as my restriction is pretty good. I want to save room for the Proteins and veggies. After 12 weeks, I was able to add salads, and that has been great. Such flavors with adding cheeses and dressings. I add chicken or tuna for my main protein and cheeses for a little extra. (Crumbled blue cheese ...yum!)

I'm at 7 months out. On a typical day, I usually have:

Breakfast: Iced coffee with milk (I sip on this all morning, really), maybe a couple of cheese or Peanut Butter crackers or a couple bites of a whole-grain cookie, but typically just the coffee/milk drink.

Snack: Half a Protein bar.

Lunch: 3/4 c. soup, as high in protein as I can find (lentil, black bean, chili, etc.).

Snack: The other half of the Protein Bar and another iced coffee with milk on the way home from work.

Supper: Cheese, soup, yogurt, some Beans, whatever sounds good at the time that has protein in it.

Snack: Grapefruit or melon--some kind of fruit.

I confess that I have never really gotten back into the "meals" way of eating--I tend to eat small, snack-size quantities of different foods through the day as tolerated. My sleeve still doesn't like a lot of raw veggies, but I keep trying salads! Dairy and beans/lentils are my main sources of protein now--not on purpose; it's just what my sleeve likes. I've become quite the cheese snob and usually have a couple of soups in the fridge for quick and easy reheating.

When we go out to eat, I usually will order a cup of soup and I'll have a bite or two off my husband's plate. Overall, it's been amazingly easy to live a "normal" life, even though I definitely do not eat "normal meals" or even really "meals," per se.

I do have jello in the fridge for a drive-by snack, but rarely have done the popsicles. I have a cold-sensitive mouth. My go-to snack is cheese. Tillamook Extra Sharp cheddar and those little round baby belle cheese are a godsend. Did I mention the crumbled blue cheese ...? :drool5: For me, the flavor of everything has shifted towards the bland, so I tend to gravitate towards snacks with bold flavor. A discovery, :blush5: , I made a couple days ago is the little 6 oz V-8 juices. Bold flavor, some vitamins and liquid. I'm always short on liquids. Case of 48 at Costco for like $8.

My post-op was a bit different than those listed above. Week 1 turned into days 1 thru 4 and that was Clear Liquids only. Week 2 was actually says 5 thru 8 and it was mostly liquids with a few really mushy things like wheat ritz that turned to near liquid if chewed long enough, yogurt with Protein powder added to it and "cream of ..." soups.

After the eigth day, I needed something to "eat" so I started with half a scrambled egg and was able to go nearly 3 hours without something other than Water going in my mouth. I slowly added chicken, cheeses, and lunch meats as tolerated but kept up with the protein shakes and tried my best to get in enough water (I still don't get enough).

I am at the end of week 4 now and still eat soft foods. I have not tried pork or beef or raw hard fruits and veggies (I have had peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, and grapes). I was released by the doctor to eat normal foods as tolerated at the beginning of week 4 (or was it the end of week 3) and have not been very bold. My go-to's are grilled chicken, tuna, shrimp, scallops, fish, cheeses, and lunch meats.

My favorite so far has been cottage cheese "dip". Put a couple of spoons of cottage cheese (I don't like cottage cheese but i like this) in a bowl and add chives, bacon bits, and garlic powder to taste. Mix it all up and add whatever else you want to flavor it with. Being from south Mississippi, I add a seasoning called "Slap Ya Momma" or Tony Chacheries. I put the mix on a wheat ritz or slice of cucumber. It's so good that my 11 year old wanted me to make her some for snack!

Shae

I am 14 weeks out and this is my typical day:

Breakfast: 1/2 english muffin with Peanut Butter and 1/2 banana sliced on top

snack: baby bell cheese

lunch: 3/4 of a healthy choice type frozen meal-- one with at least 10 grams of protien or more. I try to eat the meat out and leave the noodles or rice.

snack: handful of nuts or a can of tuna plain

Dinner: chicken breast, or meatloaf, or pot roast, or whatever meat my roommates and I are in the mood for. and a few bites of veggies.

On the days when I work out I also drink a protien shake made with ice, protien powder, peanut butter, banana, and thats an extra 50 grams of protien,

Feeling great!!! Calories range from 1000-1300 usually.

I had a vertical sleeve on October 24, 2011. So far, it's been great! I just need to get more protein and fluids in. I'm not hungry most of the time. I know this is temporary and I don't want my body to go into a starvation mode.

For the first three weeks, I drank Water, Protein drinks, broth, herbal tea, and sugar free popsicles. I tried to get in as much protein as possible, but I doubt it was thirty grams of protein, and it was a struggle to get 40-60 oz of liquid in.

For the second three weeks (mushies) I was eating pureed Soups (I loved pureed hot and sour soup), bean and bacon Soup (made with extra water), cottage cheese with applesauce (and Protein Powder mixed in),cottage cheese with salsa and protein powder, yogurt and protein powder, pudding and protein powder, and really loose chicken salad (lots of light mayo and pureed chicken). I drank Protein Drinks and made protein fruit smoothies.

At six weeks, for Proteins, I was eating chicken, tuna, salmon, fresh fish, shrimp, pork roast (cooked in a crock pot), moist cooked ground beef, beef roast (cooked in a crock pot), baby bell cheese, laughing cow cheese, string cheese and cheddar or swiss cheeses. I really didn't start eating the pork or beef unitl about 3 months - at 6 weeks, it still upset my stomach. I also seldom eat eggs (maybe twice a week) - I have a very low tolerance for them - they make me break out in hives if I eat too many (old alergy - nothing sleeve related). Eggs are a good protein source and usually people have no trouble digesting them.

The only dairy I ate was lowfat cottage cheese, lowfat Activia yogurt, or greek yogurt. I would occasionally (maybe once or twice a week) have a 60 calorie sugar free pudding cup. I might mix 1/2 applesauce or water packed peaches with the cottage cheese.

For veggies - I ate tomatoes, green Beans, squash, cucumber, sugar snap peas, carrots, green peppers and carrots. I started asparagras at six weeks. I stayed away from raw celery (only ate it cooked), and brocolli / cauliflower (raw or cooked) - didn't start it until later.

I would make smoothies for Breakfast with nectar protein powder and frozen strawberries and frozen banannas. I would sometimes use different fruit in the smoothies. For 1 smoothie , I use at most 1/2 bannana and approx 6 berries.

I would eat a 2" long piece of corn on the cob maybe once /week.

I would eat little melba toast squares occasionally with the laughing cow cheese on it. I didn't eat any other crackers or bread.

I didn't (and still don't at 9 months) eat bread, Pasta, potatoes, rice or crackers). When I cook post roast, I might bend my rule and now eat a 1" cube of cooked potatoe.

I drink EAS /Myoplex protein drinks for breakfast if I don't make a smoothie. I also will occasionally use an Isopure PLUS Protein Drink.

I also eat sugar free popsicles and sugar free pudding cups.

For the first six weeks, I probably was getting around 300-400 calories, and maybe 40 grams of protein. At 6 months, I ate between 65-80 grams of protein and maybe 800 calories. Some weekend days I now may go above the 80 / 800 mark. I don't ever want to go over 1000 unless I am working out A LOT that day.

The things I can't eat now? Lots of raw celery, lots of raw cauliflower or broccoli, not more than 1/4 cup of corn or 1/4 of a long ear of corn, beef or pork that is too dry or spicy, or more than about 1/2 of salad. More than 2 swallows of liquor or 4 oz of beer or wine give me a buzz like two drinks did before. I also can not tolerate carbonated beverages at all. About two bites of something sweet and I have to stop - very rich foods I can't eat much of (THREE CHEERS FOR THAT!) I still avoid bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes. I might have one or two bites of rice or potatoes as a special treat - and I just don't do bread at all.

Post Op Day 1: sipping Water

Day 2: sipping water, broth, decaf tea, sf Jello until discharge

Day 3 - 14: Protein shakes, LF cottage cheese, Fage 0% yogurt, NF/LS soup, pudding

I will be the first to admit, sounds ok but it is hard for me. I feel full but am craving some carbs! Hang in there and sip! I am post-op day 8.