Im still pre-op at the moment, 7 days to go! Ok so I know the first 2 weeks is liquid only, im planning on having meal replacement shakes, soups, and yoghurt. Weeks 3&4 are soft food. What do you eat here? I can cook up some cottage pies and stews to make muchy, other ideas? Can I still use the meal replacement shakes after the first 2 weeks? My literature says no bread or rice for the first 3 months. What about pasta? I was also wondering about meat, I know all meat has to be minced, but is that allowed in this stage or not until later? I read somewhere that I shouldn't have/try meat until 3 months post op. Can anyone help clear this up for me? Thanks everyone. Xx

Ground meat is allowed in my phase three, which I just began on Monday 1/6/14. However, there is a caveat in my instructions that for some people, meat isn't tolerated at this point.

My plan says no pasta at this point. It says lean ground or canned meats like ground beef that's 90% lean or ground turkey. Canned meats packed it water like tuna and chicken. I was given a notebook of foods I can have with stages and a week menu example for each stage from my dietician. So message me if have any questions. Oh and the soft food stage you can also get protein through egg beaters and fat free re fried beans.

Deli turkey, refried beans, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, well cooked veggies, cottage cheese, applesauce, tuna salad, mashed potatoes, mashed yams, squash.

Deli turkey, refried Beans, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, well cooked veggies, cottage cheese, applesauce, tuna salad, mashed potatoes, mashed yams, squash.

Also, follow the plan that your surgeon's office will give you for guidelines. My surgeon was must more stringent in his food choices than most. We could not use cottage cheese until we were on stage 3, but many surgeon's allow it on stage2. I used a lot of canned meat, and even went so far as to use some babyfood instead of pureeing my veggies. Well best wishes, hopefully you get some ideas from these post. Karen..aka.kll724

Hi there, congratulations on your upcoming date -- very exciting! Post-op differs depending on a surgeon's protocol. I'm sure they will clarify everything for you. My surgeon described full liquids as those which would slide off a plate if it was turned sideways and no chunks. I enjoyed potato leek and other boxed soups at this stage as well as thinned applesauce, yogurt, etc. For mushies I craved eggs by then, tried avocado which I usually love but I didn't want it. After the band I did not want certain things -- I didn't go for the protein shakes I had liked before, etc. Listen to your doctor's instructions and to your body. You may not be very hungry at all. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Here's to a healthy new year.

Lots of options as you can see. But try not to get ahead of yourself trying new things. After 7 weeks and 5 weeks post op, my husband and I are still enjoying taking it easy and only eating when we feel like it. I cook no meals. Pantry and fridge is stocked with options that are easy and microwavable and we are still doing popsicles when bored and want a little treat. The SF puddings I thought would tempt us both sit in the pantry. Amazing how our tastes have changed.

Very happy that we are content to relax and not obsess about food and cooking anymore, both of us. I did want to get creative once and made some awesomely delicious crockpot chicken breast with FF mushroom Soup, white wine and swiss cheese (modified favorite recipe). Choking on one small bite of that chicken put me in a tailspin of feeling like I was having a heart attack. It really made me appreciate paying attention MORE to chewing well and eating SLOW. Lesson learned the hard way.

Food is no longer the focus of our lives. Plus we are thankful to have come off a lot of medicines, blood sugars are normal for the first time in many years, blood pressure is normal. Can only get better. Good luck to everyone, and keep your faith in this process, never give up! So worth it!

Not sure if the same rules apply to Sleeve Patients Linda.. I know At week 3 I could have puree foods such as mashed potatoes, refried Beans, applesauce .. I was very careful with meat of any kind to make sure it was very tender and pureed.. We have a different set up than the sleeve patients because we have a small opening our food has to be very small . Experiencing swelling at this stage is still possible.. I know I couldn't eat my 1 cup of food for the first 6 weeks or so... But as usual follow the Dr's guidelines and check in with your Nutritionist..

Thanks Sharpie, my NY resolution is to look closer, seeing whether it says sleeve or band! I jumped in too fast methinks!

Lots of options as you can see. But try not to get ahead of yourself trying new things. After 7 weeks and 5 weeks post op, my husband and I are still enjoying taking it easy and only eating when we feel like it. I cook no meals. Pantry and fridge is stocked with options that are easy and microwavable and we are still doing popsicles when bored and want a little treat. The SF puddings I thought would tempt us both sit in the pantry. Amazing how our tastes have changed.

Very happy that we are content to relax and not obsess about food and cooking anymore, both of us. I did want to get creative once and made some awesomely delicious crockpot chicken breast with FF mushroom soup, white wine and swiss cheese (modified favorite recipe). Choking on one small bite of that chicken put me in a tailspin of feeling like I was having a heart attack. It really made me appreciate paying attention MORE to chewing well and eating SLOW. Lesson learned the hard way.

Food is no longer the focus of our lives. Plus we are thankful to have come off a lot of medicines, blood sugars are normal for the first time in many years, blood pressure is normal. Can only get better. Good luck to everyone, and keep your faith in this process, never give up! So worth it!

Great post! What a relief to have food not be front and center anymore. And getting off meds, too -- so happy for both of you.

Softs:

Mashed Potatoes

Grits

Cream of Wheat

Oat Meal

Muscle Milk - Cake Batter Flavor (mixed thick like cake batter and eaten)

Cottage cheese (salt and pepper, fruit juice or other seasoning)

Stewed Veggies

I got creative and there were a few more things I ate, but I can't remember at the moment.

Egg beaters are on my soft food diet. I made a homemade version of my baked potato soups one night. I cut up and boiled the potatoes a

Until very soft. Drained off most the water added spray butter and low fat sour cream( of plain Greek yogurt will do) a small amount of skim milk. a little salt and pepper. It was so very good.