Im craving pinto beans and rice with sour cream hehehe just a bit. Im really tired of being on liquids.

I stayed true to the doctor's orders until the mushie stage (week #4) which I started 2 days early with the most wonderful spoonful of black refried beans.. I worked too hard to get to the point of having this sleeve that I didn't want to jeopardize the healing process. Now, at 4 months out, I am still good about getting my proteins and liquids in daily, and I don't feel deprived of anything. I can eat what I want without difficulties and have enjoyed many times out with friends and family to restaurants, movies, etc. I do keep a protein bar (Premier) in my purse for emergencies.

I had some mashed fish and mashed potatoes one day and refried Beans and avocado another day. It was a matter of a couple tiny spoonfuls of each. I do not recommend this at all.

I was supposed to be on Clear Liquids for that two weeks. I was good at getting the clear stuff in and that was my best Protein consumption (80 grams a day). That fruit Isopure stuff was great for that. Lost a LOT of weight then.

Dorrie, you asked for rationale? Hmmmmmm. No excuse because it was not rational. I just felt incredibly good and had since day 2 post-op. I was just lucky.

Karen...you don't have to "cheat" sweetheart. You can now have some refried Beans with melted cheese and sour cream for your pureed stage which moves right into mushy consistency. Skip the rice as it can expand in your stomach. Enjoy slowly reintroducing solids into your diet.

I know the liquid stage was hard...but you ready to move forward.

I know Kaiser gives you tons of paperwork and guidelines on what your diet should look like. Use those guidelines to help you move forward.

You can have some hot Cereal for Breakfast now - perhaps only 2-4 ounces

You can have beans, bean Soups, chili, etc as long as it is smooth/or pureed

You can enjoy yogurt and sugar free pudding

Believe me you won't be able to eat that much...what you are experiencing is head hunger...and you can move through that .. but you have to go ahead and give it a try!!

I stayed true to the doctor's orders until the mushie stage (week #4) which I started 2 days early with the most wonderful spoonful of black refried Beans.. I worked too hard to get to the point of having this sleeve that I didn't want to jeopardize the healing process. Now, at 4 months out, I am still good about getting my Proteins and liquids in daily, and I don't feel deprived of anything. I can eat what I want without difficulties and have enjoyed many times out with friends and family to restaurants, movies, etc. I do keep a Protein bar (Premier) in my purse for emergencies.

Your weight loss is phenomenal. Your hard work shows.

The only thing I did was lick the flavoring off of a few tomato basil wheat thins about 2 weeks out. Then my dog ate the crackers and she didn't mind at all that I licked off the good part.

My Dr. has me eating tuna, chicken salad, eggs, soft cheese,lunch meat, fish, shrimp.... pretty much anything that is a lean Protein and I could start on that at week two. I can't have much of anything, but it is nice get some protein from somewhere other than the shakes. I still have to have one shake a day, and should probably do two, but i don't.

It seems weird that there is such a discrepency on menus after the surgery. I was only on Clear liquids for two days, then i could start having other items, and then even more at 7 days post op. the only issue i have had is trying to figure out the right portion size. i ate alittle too much twice and it sucked. I felt bloated for an hour after both times. Thankfully i was eating slowly, so i realized it before I ate so much that i threw up. I will take an hour of bloated over throwing up anyday!

Honestly--I did not ingest one single errant microbe of anything.

My Dr. has me eating tuna, chicken salad, eggs, soft cheese,lunch meat, fish, shrimp.... pretty much anything that is a lean Protein and I could start on that at week two. I can't have much of anything, but it is nice get some protein from somewhere other than the shakes. I still have to have one shake a day, and should probably do two, but i don't.

It seems weird that there is such a discrepency on menus after the surgery. I was only on clear liquids for two days, then i could start having other items, and then even more at 7 days post op. the only issue i have had is trying to figure out the right portion size. i ate alittle too much twice and it sucked. I felt bloated for an hour after both times. Thankfully i was eating slowly, so i realized it before I ate so much that i threw up. I will take an hour of bloated over throwing up anyday!

Yeah, it is weird. I wasn't on solids until the start of week 7. It worked for me. I never had any issues with any food except cucumbers early on. They didn't hurt, they just made my sleeve roll and bubble and squeak for an hour.

Overeating does suck with the sleeve. I've done it twice and the reaction was to vomit whether I wanted to or not. I got what you would call the slimes.

My Dr. has me eating tuna, chicken salad, eggs, soft cheese,lunch meat, fish, shrimp.... pretty much anything that is a lean Protein and I could start on that at week two. I can't have much of anything, but it is nice get some protein from somewhere other than the shakes. I still have to have one shake a day, and should probably do two, but i don't.

It seems weird that there is such a discrepency on menus after the surgery. I was only on clear liquids for two days, then i could start having other items, and then even more at 7 days post op. the only issue i have had is trying to figure out the right portion size. i ate alittle too much twice and it sucked. I felt bloated for an hour after both times. Thankfully i was eating slowly, so i realized it before I ate so much that i threw up. I will take an hour of bloated over throwing up anyday!

My nutrition plan was exactly the same. Only two days of clear liquids, then seven days of other liquids (shakes, broth, cream Soups, etc) followed by 7 days of purees (I LOVED this stage as I wanted flavor and man did I puree lots of foods!), then 7 days of mushies (also a good stage for me) and by the fourth week was on regular food. I had no problems with any of the stages. Now at 10 weeks out, I'm eating everything, including steak without an issue. My NUT did have me introduce fruits with skins and lettuce last but I've had no problems with those either. I eat about 3/4 cup of food now at most meals (sometimes less) and usually have one of Eggface's shake recipes daily too. My calorie intake ranges from 600-800, with usually around 70-80 grams of protein. I try and keep carbs between 40-50 - more of the time though I'm under 40 carbs.

I am very curious as to why people would risk their sleeve by cheating on the dietary plan given by their surgeon? I know that I was fearful of damaging my staple sline and I cheated with yogurt' date=' but that was because of a discrepancy with Kaiser's dietary plan and the surgeon's dietary plan. I am really interested in hearing the rational that goes through our minds that contribute to us cheating. no judgements, just curious. Thanks everyone. [/quote']

For me there were several factors, not the least of which being that I was really concerned abou how much muscle mass I was going to lose. I felt I needed to find ways to pack in as much lean protien as possible.

I looked at so many different diets being suggested & then proceeded to build my own path. My path advanced fairly quickly to mushies, then slowly to soft foods. Now at 7 weeks out I'm actually behind my doctors plan. I do a lot of fish & protien supplements, very little other meats, no red meat yet (except a bit of beef jerkey), no Pasta,bread,,rice,or potatoes.

I have to say yes, I cheated, but not from cravings, or weakness. My "cheating was very deliberate and aimed at a goal.

disclaimer: this is not intended to be taken as advice, it is simply a testament of what I have done