I had my surgery 3/31. I was on liquids for the first week. At my follow up my doc said I can proceed to soft foods, and by next week I can try normal foods. This is shorter than the plan that the doctor's office instituted for me. (By about 10 days). I've been trying new foods and have had no issues. I've read so many bad things about rupturing the stomach,etc. that i'm freaking out! How can plans be so different from person to person?

Someone would really have to be nailing the stomach 3x overtime to do that. You probably are a fast healer and it actually doesn't take that long to get everything together.

Congrats! Sounds like you are doing fine!

Soft foods at week 3 and solids at 1 month here.

I was SHOCKED when he said normal food in 3/4 days. I am nervous because I have admittedly been giving myself a little leeway in trying new foods as long as I chew them very well. I had rotissary chicken (so it was very soft) and I chewed super well. No problems. It just feels too good to be true! I feel horrible saying, "I can start eating any new food I want in a few days" when some people are still on FULL LIQUIDS.

That's what I mean-- it's day 8 and you're telling me I can eat pretty much whatever I want, as long as I chew well, by day 12? It feels wrong! LOL - amazing, but wrong!

Hospital - Clear Liquids

Home - full liquids

one week - purees

two 1/2 weeks - soft

4 1/2 weeks - regular

3 months - raw fruits and veg

I was allowed solids at 40 days post-op.

I started on soft food within 3-4 days, the second week added a few more things that I could chew easily, by 3 weeks I was eating most everything that seemed appealing. Salads and certain fruits took a little longer but I mostly ate what I wanted at the rate I wanted. No rupture, no leaks, no ill effects, no stretched sleeve - things went just fine.

Just looked back in my food records (on www.myfitnesspal.com) and see that I first tried solid food (salmon) on Day 19. Those were tiny, tiny bites!

Per the doctor:

Two weeks liquid.

At week three, puréed.

At week four, soft/mushy.

At week six, solids.

Per my sleeve:

Two weeks liquid.

At week three, puréed.

At week five, soft/mushy.

At three months, solid.

Stricture and sensitive tummy here. Solids were not my friend.

@@bangbangbarbie I am dealing with the same thing! I had surgery 03/26 I called my doctor's office afraid of moving too fast because things seem to be going too well and they very patiently told me that the guidelines were just that, guidelines. They said there were mainly in place because many people can run into issues with food getting stuck, creating feelings of discomfort that can lead to them not getting in proper nutrition for the rest of the day. I was told that so long as I gradually introduce new foods, and chew them very well, I can progress at whatever pace my body accepts. They said the stages they have (liquid, puree, soft food, 'normal' food) is in place not only to reduce blockage but also to align with how our innards are healing (i.e. they can tolerate soft cooked veggies before our pouches can handle raw carrots), but as we all heal at different rates our abilities to tolerate things also varies.

I'd also been afraid of eating too much and stretching my pouch so had limited myself to 1/4 cup at each meal, I was again reassured today that eating 1/2 cup in a sitting would not cause me harm but that I may find it easier to eat 1/2 cup of yogurt than I would 1/2 cup of chicken and veggies! Fair point I reckoned.

I was really glad to hear back from them because I felt ready to progress to the next stage ( soft food: eating things like chicken) last Friday, only two days after finishing my liquid diet but was afraid too.... Needless to say that didn't stop me from trying lovely tender chicken over the weekend, never did I think I'd enjoy plain chicken so much!!

Let's embrace the smooth sailing!

I had my surgery 3/31. I was on liquids for the first week. At my follow up my doc said I can proceed to soft foods, and by next week I can try normal foods. This is shorter than the plan that the doctor's office instituted for me. (By about 10 days). I've been trying new foods and have had no issues. I've read so many bad things about rupturing the stomach,etc. that i'm freaking out! How can plans be so different from person to person?

Because every body is different and heal times may be faster for some people. I have a tummy of steel and had no issues with any food I tried.

8 weeks, which is the standard for my surgical office. I know it takes longer than most, but I'm glad it did, because I think being that far out allows for full healing, thus I have had absolutely no issues with ANY type of food since I started on the normal foods.

I suspect it is somewhat dependent on the type of surgery that you had. I underwent RNY. They recommended:

4 weeks following surgery: full liquids

Weeks 5-8: Puree Foods

Weeks 9+ : Solid Foods

2 weeks full liquids, 2 weeks pureed, 2 weeks soft foods and after that anything as tolerated. I guess that makes me 6 weeks on solids. I have the tummy of steel and haven't had any trouble with foods.