I'll just imagine the Beans I'm eating (everyday!) are a beautiful piece of steak with a side of fries and ranch (yummm). My mom had this the sleeve done December 28, 2011 and I had mine done December 5, 2012. I thought that seeing her go through it first would help me, but I just don't know how she did it. It's like an Alcoholics Anonymous type of deal: One day at a time. I just miss that heartiness of a good meal. The type of meal where it doesn't come in a baby-sized bowl. Heck, I miss sitting down at the dinner table with my family. I haven't eaten with them since the surgery. A couple reasons being that they tend to eat quite quickly and that I hate seeing the food they eat because I miss it. I've also been getting afraid that I'm stretching my stomach because of my liquid intake. I feel and notice that I'm able to take in more liquids in a sitting than I was in the beginning. I sip small sips, but I sip them constantly. Should I worry about stretching? Last time I checked I lost about 37 pounds, which I hope is a good indicator of my surgery.

Had a small milestone today when I baked a cake for my family and made them my "famous" spaghetti (that I love to eat). Hard part about it was of course not being able to taste what I was cooking to make sure it was good so my mom had to add a lot of stuff to it because I didn't know what it was missing. Made me feel a tad bit incompetent. I find that when I cook I'm not missing the food as much. It's the part where everyone gets to eat what I cooked that bums me out. I usually just leave the room so I won't think about it. I know a lot of you are probably months or years post-op. I just want to know how you handled these kind of problems. Any help is really appreciated.

Why would you not be able to at least taste the food to check seasoning? I am the family cook and the only time I avoided this was immediately post op, but you're more than a month out.

Don't make yourself crazier than you need to!

Listen, steak isn't likely to go over well at this point. But it's not gone forever. Depending on where you are in your post op diet (I'm assuming soft foods) there are options out there besides beans!

Food is an addiction for many of us. Having the sleeve only controls the portion side of the equation but never addresses the emotions, habits and rituals we have tied up in food. It takes a long time to sort through all that and get a normal, healthy relationship out of the mess. The frustration you're feeling is normal and it will pass more quickly than you think.

In the meantime, focus on introducing foods you might not have eaten prior to surgery. Make spices work for you. Get creative. This phase is short, but it will still be some time before you sit down and enjoy what will be a normal meal for you from now on. It takes a while but in just a few more weeks you should be able to sit down and eat a few bites of whatever you made for your family. You'll just have a much smaller portion.

And why not prepare part of the meal as something you can enjoy with them now? I made about half of my meals to my family's tastes but half again to suit what I was able to eat. Including a nice, tasty Soup or some soft grain/seed salads each evening could enable you to feel like you're part of the ritual that your family enjoys. At some point you'll be there and able to eat as much as you'd like, but for a long time you'll find that you might pass on a dish they eat or skip over certain foods. So I guess what I'm saying is not to deny yourself this time with your family because it may be a long while before you're eating everything they eat. It's a hurdle you'll have to tackle at some point, so why not now?

It's normal to feel frustration but I think that this doesn't need to be as difficult as it is for you right now. If all else fails, you'll still only be in this phase for a short while.

Good luck, and congrats on your sleeve,

~Cheri

Just remember that this idea of the "heartiness of a good meal" is what got us so obese that we were willing to let a surgeon punch holes in is, take 85% of our stomachs, and sew us back up again.

I miss food too right now, I am on the preop diet but I have had WLS in the past so I have been here but we have to keep a sound state of mind about the facts of the situation.

Steak is a good protein source. In few weeks(if not already), you should be able to add it to your diet. Forget about all the trimmings and remember you will only eat between 2 and 5 oz at most. You can season it with anything without a problem. From the first week out, I put hot sauce on anything that needed a little flavor.The best thing (and sometimes the worse thing) about the sleeve is that after 6 months, you will be able to tolerate anything. You are mourning the loss of your old friend, FOOD! It shall come to pass and you learn to enjoy what you eat, not how much you eat. I too missed the fullness of a giant (6000+ calorie) meal. After almost 3 years, it is a distant memory and I don't miss it a bit.

I was sleeved a week after you were, 12/12/12, and I am the cook for my family, too. I don't know how restricted your diet is but I can certainly taste my cooking. I make a lot of the same dishes as I used to, I just tweaked them. For instance I switched spaghetti noodles (yes I've eaten my homemade spaghetti) for spaghetti squash. No one was the wiser, and the meal was now sleeve friendly.

I am just over 3 months out and I eat steak (4 - 5oz) and I cook for my family. I eat the same protein and veg I just don't have the starch/carbs, I do taste for seasoning just in very small amounts. I still bake cookies and cakes with my children I just don't eat them.