Well, if everything goes right { oh please, please, please this time *fingers crossed*} my surgery is 16 days away. So last night was our last chance to go out before my pre-op diet starts. Tupelo was covered up and the wait time to get in everywhere was an hour {and it was cold outside!}. We finally managed to get in the door at Applebee's after only 35 min. But anywho, I had an exquisite 9oz. Sirloin strip, steamed broccoli and baby carrots, onion rings and then to finish off a shooter glass of chocolate mousse and whip cream. It was wonderful and nice of him to take me out. What I would like to know is how much of that does the average person eat after surgery? As in how may portions or meals. Of course I know that eating sweets won't be in with that; this was just for shall we say one last time around the track..hehe :0) {BTW, I've already lost 21#s. Yay me!}

I'm 5 months out and I just had 2 eggs scrambled and two slices of a 6 oz sirloin, with leftovers for later. I didn't order a veggie because I had (gasp) a yogurt parfait instead! So, 2 oz of yogurt with a few crumbles, 2 eggs scrambled with cheese and about an ounce and a half of steak (it was kind of tough, so wasn't able to chew up the whole 2 oz portion).

I am on 8 oz. portions of regular food, but find I cannot eat that much. last night I ate 2 oz. of a 4 oz. pork chop, about 1 oz. of baked beans, and about 2 oz. of acorn squash. i just can't get in the 8 oz. yet. elieve me you will know your restrictions when you get back to regularfood. When I was on a liquid or pureed stage, I didn't really feel full, but I would start to burp, so I knew that was enough.

I haven't had surgery yet but, at my nutrition class they said that all meals should be 4 oz. They recommended 2oz of protein and 2 oz of veggies or fruit.

You can eat about 2 oz of the steak, a couple small bites of the veggies, and maybe 1 bite of dessert. Not bad. You could get around 4 meals out of last night's dinner.

I'm almost 7 weeks out and am eating 3 oz total at eat meal. No steak at all for at least a few more months.. It's just to hard to digest now per my doctor.. You will know when it's time to stop and trust me you will not be hungry - Good Luck

I had my surgery on Dec 1 and I am trying to eat as much as possible. I just came off a 2 week stall and I started to increase my calories as my body must have thought that I was starving. I am now back on the losing side of things again. I maybe eat about 4 oz at a meal but it all depends on what I am eating. I have eaten chicken and thin sliced ham and turkey. I have not started to eat hamburger or steak as they are a little tougher to digest. I have eaten scrammbled eggs and they work great as does cottage cheese. I also have been having some string cheese and sliced cheese. You will find what works for you when you start with more regular foods.

Don't worry about a last meal, I eat anything I want to now. Only difference is I'm satisfied after a few delicious bites! I had corn chowder (homemade and rich), grapes, diet coke and flourless chocolate cake for supper tonight.

I did have a "last meal" before my surgery - we went to Outback and I had a big ribeye, bloomin' onion, salad, and a gigantic beer. I didn't think of it so much as eating foods I would NEVER be able to eat again, but I wanted to have something that I knew I wouldn't be able to eat for a while post-op. I knew steak, salad and beer were on my "off limits" list for at least 3-6 months so I enjoyed the heck out of them.

At nearly 6 months out I am enjoying all those things again, but obviously in much smaller quantities.

Well, if everything goes right { oh please, please, please this time *fingers crossed*} my surgery is 16 days away. So last night was our last chance to go out before my pre-op diet starts. Tupelo was covered up and the wait time to get in everywhere was an hour {and it was cold outside!}. We finally managed to get in the door at Applebee's after only 35 min. But anywho, I had an exquisite 9oz. Sirloin strip, steamed broccoli and baby carrots, onion rings and then to finish off a shooter glass of chocolate mousse and whip cream. It was wonderful and nice of him to take me out. What I would like to know is how much of that does the average person eat after surgery? As in how may portions or meals. Of course I know that eating sweets won't be in with that; this was just for shall we say one last time around the track..hehe :0) {BTW, I've already lost 21#s. Yay me!}

Well I'm about a year and a half out and here's how much of that I could *probably* eat, considering I'm having a loooong meal and talking with whomever I'm with. I could maybe eat 4 oz of steak, 2-3 broccoli crowns, one carrot slice, one or two onion rings and yes even a few to a few more spoonfuls of the chocolate mousse. That if and only if we are at the table for an hour or more. If it's 30 minutes or less cut that steak in half (2 oz).

Yeah, I'm 18 months out and for dinner tonight I made homemade chicken jaegerschnitzel (breaded boneless skinless breast with a mushroom and onion gravy) and I measured out my portion just to see how much I could eat. I was aiming for 4 ounces but only managed to eat 3 ounces. I had no side dishes.

I still have a LOT of restriction. I can eat one egg scrambled with cheese. I can eat half a sandwich and half a cup of Soup. I can eat half a cheeseburger. I can eat one slice of pizza.

So with that meal I would have had to sit there for more than an hour and pick at it but I could have eaten probably 2 oz. of the steak (steak fills me up very quickly), a few bites of broccoli and carrot and I would have deliberately saved room for a few bites of dessert.

And I agree with the idea that there are no last meals. We make changes to how we eat and we should be more careful about tracking our food and meeting nutritional goals but we should also be aiming to eat like normal people. This is a lifelong change - we had major surgery to reach a weight loss goal and be healthier people, but our stomachs don't miraculously grow back once we reach goal. Going into it looking at foods and saying, "I'll never eat this again" is just asking for trouble! You want to get to the point where you can take or leave food and not let it control your life, and where you can eat like a normal person with no food issues.

So, heal up and in six months go out for another steak dinner at Applebees. I'd bring a friend or two to share with, because you won't be eating nearly as much next time around.

~Cheri

I was driving around yesterday and some sappy, mournful song was on the radio so I started feeling sad about my "last day" with food (liquids start today), so I changed the station and I ran into Motley Crue singing "SHE'S GOT THE LOOKS THAT KILLLLLL!!" And I instantly felt better!!! It's like that song was sent just for me!! hahahaha It's soooo worth it.

Oh, too bad the last meal was Crapplebee's. Really hate that place. Okay, hate is a strong word. It's more like: over-salted and somehow still bland food I could make ten times better at home.

My last meal before the pre-op diet was at a really good BBQ place. I had a ribeye, and a bite of their handmade hot links, plus the baked potato and Beans and yada, yada.

What's nice now is that since I don't eat much, I can afford fillet mignon. I'm not hurting for tasty food. I just make sure it's the best lean Protein.