Hi guys I am 11 days post op and it's way to soon for me to even think about spices but god do I love spicy food ... Especially mexican ohh me oh my ...are you guys able to eat spicy? How long later after surgery?

I'm 8 weeks out or so, and started experimenting with Cholula sauce around week 4 on refried beans- I'm a Mexican food junkie too! At this point, there's very little spiciness I can't handle, thankfully. Just need to be careful what I put it on- so far taco meat is definitely "out", which brings a tear to my eye, but I have a killer Southwestern Black Bean Spaghetti recipe that I just had for lunch today- covered in red onion, chopped fresh jalapeños and hot sauce. Yum!

Suzemuze why no more taco meat? Just curious since I am only 11 days out... Also I can't wait to eat ceviche or shrimp cocktail. Care to share your recipe?

It is most likely because red meat/pork is harder to digest. I did make turkey meatballs which were delicious. If you can tolerate the swap out, you should be fine but you will probably have to cook at home.

...and difficult digestion can cause terrible stomach cramps...take it from someone who thought one bite of the Christmas Ham wouldn't hurt! (It did by the way)

Can someone explain why red meat is so much more difficult to digest? I keep hearing this and that I will have to watch spicy foods, too. I love spicy foods and would be happy with Mexican food daily but I should probably start preparing myself, huh? Any words of wisdom would be appreciated, especially more posts saying that spicy doesn't bother some people. If I can't eat spicy foods anymore whatever will I do?

Spicy food will be by trial and error. Currently, I have terrible stomach cramps from eating spicy Mexican. Each person's tummy can tolerate different things. Basically, red meat is high in protein and fat, both of which are very difficult for the stomach to digest. Here is a more detailed article: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=75

I was on spicy food from the get go. I couldn't stand to drink plain water and got sick of crystal light, so I made hot and sour soup my first week post op. It was fine. I asked my surgeon about eating spicy Indian food, and he reminded me that people in India also get WLS all the time. Enjoy!

Spices were encouraged in my program. So I spiced with reckless abandon from purees onward. Also if you like tacos try using ground turkey or diced or ground chicken instead of beef. Some people have an easier time with chicken and turkey.

Suzemuze why no more taco meat? Just curious since I am only 11 days out... Also I can't wait to eat ceviche or shrimp cocktail. Care to share your recipe?

@@krisstep

I wish I knew why taco meat has turned its yummy, spicy self against me! I think it's the idea of ground beef overall- I seem to have issues with it. I ate just a bit of it a couple of weeks ago and thought death itself would be a better option than living with the pain under my breastbone that plagued me for a couple of hours afterwards.

As far as the Black Bean Spaghetti recipe goes, I found it here:

http://www.snixykitchen.com/2014/06/16/southwestern-black-bean-spaghetti/

I don't actually make the avocado sauce, but just chop up an avocado and add it in with all the other veggies- it's awesome! Black bean spaghetti is an acquired taste, I think... or maybe it was just me trying to get over the notion that it looks like a pile of black rubber bands on my plate It's chewier than regular spaghetti, but if you want to make a cheaper, "safer" option, regular Pasta would be ok, I guess. I found Dreamfields pasta in my diabetic journey and continue to use it even though my sugars are fine now- I can enjoy it w/o having to worry about overloading on carbs, though it doesn't have the fabulous Protein count that the black bean counterpart does. Hope you like it

I was fine with spicy things about week 3-4 but limited it just in case. I started with hot sauce and I would melt cheese on refried beans or melt cheese on ground turkey and put hot sauce on either so it's like a taco without the shell!

I have been eating spicy since my blended diet. I use hot sauce and other spices all the time. There's been no resistance from surgical team.

I've been spicing it up since week 3. The spices help the blander foods seem more satisfying.

I had my favorite Chinese place Hot and Sour Soup last night, complete with the tofu, shredded pork and veggies. Wonderful. The only thing that worries me is that I was able to eat about 3/4 c. of it. No discomfort. I worry that sometimes my new tummy can handle too much, and that I'll end up eating more than I should and not lose the way I should. Right now I seem to be losing slowly.

Spices were encouraged in my program.

Mine too. They said to spice the heck out of foods to make them interesting when your base meals are basically the same. My group even said not to worry about salting things, as I'd be eating so little volume that the usual concerns about sodium and high blood pressure wouldn't really be an issue. I'm 4-days post-op and my purees (chicken, chicken, chicken, and chicken) have a lot of variety.

I started in week one with my rooster sauce. I put Sriracha on everything

I'm 8 weeks out I made chili last week, it was way to spicy, but I ate some 3 times and I did fine. I was a little worried, but it was good.