Okay, I'm more than meeting my Protein and Fluid requirements and will be starting to transition off the soft food stage. I know to avoid bread, Pasta, and other high carb foods. But, I'm curious about alternatives. What's your take on things like low carb tortillas? Is low carb pasta a thing? What's your favorite noodle alternative? And do you think it's a slippery slope, so it's just best to avoid these products?

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I was cleared for all foods, including raw veg at one month. my meals are supposed to be 75% Protein, but I am supposed to have veg, and even some fruit and limited carbs daily.

I have not had any problems, and I am loosing weight.

Same with my Doctor in Kenya. I don't have a nutritionist so my Doctor provided general eating guidelines that focussed on lots of vegetables, fruits and lean protein (mainly chicken and fish).

I have not had any problems with weightloss either.

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@@Dub

More good advice and I will take it to heart. I have already somewhat simplified my eating to gjve myself the best cgance to succeed at this..high Protein, low carbs, almost no sugar (real or fake), no caffeine or alcohol, no white or corn flour, almost no processed foods (I have an occasional adkins or high protein lean cuisine when I just don't have the time to cook). I have lost 40 lbs so far so I am on my way I think. I have bought several of those flavored tunas but have only tried two so far... lemon pepper (loved it) and buffalo wing (not awful but a little strange) I have been afraid to eat to many in a short period of time because of mercury. Is that silly? Do you know how much an adult can safely eat?

Not sure about the mercury aspects. I should look into this.

Same with cholesterol from eggs and such.

Keep in mind that once you have your sleeve you're not really eating high volumes of protein.....just high percentage of your intake is protein.

In other words.......consider a normal meal from your former life. Imagine it. Think about what the plate looked like when it was loaded down at your normal meals. Got an image in mind ? Good. Now, remove the side items from the plate. Zero in on the entree. Got it? Good. Now zero in on that Entrees and then shrink it down to 1/4 cup in size.....or 1/2 cup or whatever size meal your phase has you eating at meals.

Now....you'll see that you may actually be eating LESS protein than you were before....and none of the other stuff. No side dishes....no salads.....no Desserts. You'll only have room for some of the protein rich entree.

With this in mind, you can still cook the same meals for your family....but you select from just part of it for your own needs.

Supplement the gaps with bariatric Multivitamins, Calcium, Iron and B-12.

Stay hydrated.

Get lean.

It's simple......as long as you let it be simple.

Stay away from foods that don't fit your new goals.....and even their substitutes. Stick with the basics and work through the various phases.

@@Clementine Sky

Excellent bread substitute suggestions! How far out of your surgery were you before you started using these?

@@Dub

More good advice and I will take it to heart. I have already somewhat simplified my eating to gjve myself the best cgance to succeed at this..high Protein, low carbs, almost no sugar (real or fake), no caffeine or alcohol, no white or corn flour, almost no processed foods (I have an occasional adkins or high protein lean cuisine when I just don't have the time to cook). I have lost 40 lbs so far so I am on my way I think. I have bought several of those flavored tunas but have only tried two so far... lemon pepper (loved it) and buffalo wing (not awful but a little strange) I have been afraid to eat to many in a short period of time because of mercury. Is that silly? Do you know how much an adult can safely eat?

Not sure about the mercury aspects. I should look into this.

Same with cholesterol from eggs and such.

Keep in mind that once you have your sleeve you're not really eating high volumes of protein.....just high percentage of your intake is protein.

In other words.......consider a normal meal from your former life. Imagine it. Think about what the plate looked like when it was loaded down at your normal meals. Got an image in mind ? Good. Now, remove the side items from the plate. Zero in on the entree. Got it? Good. Now zero in on that entrees and then shrink it down to 1/4 cup in size.....or 1/2 cup or whatever size meal your phase has you eating at meals.

Now....you'll see that you may actually be eating LESS protein than you were before....and none of the other stuff. No side dishes....no salads.....no desserts. You'll only have room for some of the protein rich entree.

With this in mind, you can still cook the same meals for your family....but you select from just part of it for your own needs.

Supplement the gaps with bariatric multivitamins, calcium, Iron and B-12.

Stay hydrated.

Get lean.

It's simple......as long as you let it be simple.

Stay away from foods that don't fit your new goals.....and even their substitutes. Stick with the basics and work through the various phases.

Very good points. You illistrated that beautifully.

I have only been eating a 3 to 4 oz portion of meat and a green veggie (usually broccoli, green Beans or brussel sprouts) on the side for 4 months now and I am a month away from having my surgery so it shouldn't be too much of ashock to my system. Thanks Dub for all the encouragement!

@@Bufflehead

I don't think tortillas are crap food, especially when they are important parts of meals culturally for some people. Tortillas aren't really the problem it is what people put on them.

@@cseidman

There are lots of low carb tortilla options out there, some are better than others. I wouldn't suggest adding any until past 6 months when you have more capacity. While it is best to get your Fiber from things like green veggies, a low carb tortilla isn't going to hurt you as long as you don't make it a daily thing. La Tortilla Factory has the best macros I have seen, better than a lot of stuff that WLS patients eat like yogurt. http://www.latortillafactory.com/view/products/low-carb-high-fiber-tortillas/

The low carb and high Protein options from Flatout aren't bad either but you will probably have to split them up.

I'm have never been a Pasta person so I can't help you there.

@@OutsideMatchInside I'm biased against grains (including corn) generally, and will call pretty much all of them crap food for weight loss, despite the fact that most cultures have a grain-based food that is important to them. But I do recognize that many people can eat grains and be successful. I know I just finished a bowl of groatmeal myself and I consider myself successful

but I do think that for many people, they are something to be avoided in weight loss and early maintenance, especially when you consider the nutritional bang for the caloric and carb buck, so to speak. That's all I mean by crap.

@@Bufflehead The way you feel about grains is how I feel about yogurt

@@Clementine Sky

Excellent bread substitute suggestions! How far out of your surgery were you before you started using these?

I began to slowly introduce them a month post-op. There's several great brands of sprouted bread that I've tried, but Ezekiel's was the one my dietician recommended by name. It's more widely available at grocery stores and Target. I like Dave's Killer Bread as well. You can get it in a thinly sliced loaf that is lower in carbs. http://www.daveskillerbread.com/#first-slide These breads are often in a refrigerated section rather than on the shelves, and they are a bit pricier but are better quality. If there's a Sprouts grocery store near you, you can find a good selection there. Trader Joe's carries Ezekiel and some other sprouted breads as well, but I've found that their loaves get mold much faster because they don't keep them refrigerated.

@@Clementine Sky

Excellent bread substitute suggestions! How far out of your surgery were you before you started using these?

I began to slowly introduce them a month post-op. There's several great brands of sprouted bread that I've tried, but Ezekiel's was the one my dietician recommended by name. It's more widely available at grocery stores and Target. I like Dave's Killer Bread as well. You can get it in a thinly sliced loaf that is lower in carbs. http://www.daveskillerbread.com/#first-slide These breads are often in a refrigerated section rather than on the shelves, and they are a bit pricier but are better quality. If there's a Sprouts grocery store near you, you can find a good selection there. Trader Joe's carries Ezekiel and some other sprouted breads as well, but I've found that their loaves get mold much faster because they don't keep them refrigerated.

Thanks! I do have a sprouts nearby. In fact, I can ride my bike there, so I'll definitely check out the Ezekiel bread.

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for me ... eating bad carbs is a brain thing ... not necessarily a "hunger" thing ... it's all in what we're used to ... and it's hard to get out of that habit ...

We ALL know this ...

But as the others say ... and trust us it's TRUE ... once you learn new ways of eating ... new ways of thinking ... and new ways of dealing with food ...

all those "old" ways just go out the window ... and you don't even care about them anymore ...

in the early stages you're so busy thinking of different ways to eat the same things as you used to eat ....

Just in a "healthy" form ... to get away with it ... to justify it ...

But ... that is the wrong path to take ...

Just forget them ... put them away in the far reaches of your brain ... that is where they are best left ..

Embrace the gift of your surgery and the new healthy life you're going to live ... the LONG healthy life !!!

@@Clementine Sky

Excellent bread substitute suggestions! How far out of your surgery were you before you started using these?

I began to slowly introduce them a month post-op. There's several great brands of sprouted bread that I've tried, but Ezekiel's was the one my dietician recommended by name. It's more widely available at grocery stores and Target. I like Dave's Killer Bread as well. You can get it in a thinly sliced loaf that is lower in carbs. http://www.daveskillerbread.com/#first-slide These breads are often in a refrigerated section rather than on the shelves, and they are a bit pricier but are better quality. If there's a Sprouts grocery store near you, you can find a good selection there. Trader Joe's carries Ezekiel and some other sprouted breads as well, but I've found that their loaves get mold much faster because they don't keep them refrigerated.

Thanks! I do have a sprouts nearby. In fact, I can ride my bike there, so I'll definitely check out the Ezekiel bread.

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I will also when the time is right. In fact I work in a store that carries Ezekiel bread. I thought is was used for religious purposes. Lol!

My approach post-op has been one of "simplicity". By simplicity, I don't mean it has been easy (it hasn't), but rather the food choices that I make now are ones that are "as whole as possible". I try to stick with foods and ingredients that have little to no processing and are as close to their natural state as possible.

If you're sticking with whole foods that aren't (or are minimally) processed, chances are you're eating things that are healthy (or healthier) for you than pretty much anything processed. Sure, Protein powders are processed, but are a necessity in the beginning. I do believe, however, that most surgeons would rather you get your protein from natural lean sources once you're able to. I do still use Protein powder, but I try to stick with brands that have the shortest ingredients list.

If I stick with whole foods, I tend not to worry about carb counting as much as if I were eating things like tortillas (low carb or not), because natural sources of carbs like fruit are dealt with a lot differently by our bodies than carbs from bread. I only eat fruit in it's whole state (not juice -- with the exception of lemon juice over veggies) to be sure that the Fiber contained in the fruit (that helps our bodies deal with the sugar) is intact.

As far as "replacements", I would stick with whole-food replacements. Use a swiss chard or collard leaf as a tortilla. Is it the same? Of course not. Is it the better choice? Absolutely. After doing this for a while I actually learned to love the taste and texture of it and actually prefer it as there are so many different things you can make!

You will have to find what works for you to replace the things that helped get you to the point of needing surgery in the first place. Whole foods and short ingredient lists is what's working for me. Some whole food subs I use are:

Processed Food => Replacement

- Pasta => Spaghetti Squash

- Pasta => Spiralized Zucchini

- Tortilla => Swiss Chard or Collard Leaves

- Bread Crumbs => Ground nuts and seeds

- Bread Crumbs => Flax Meal

- Rice => Quinoa

- Rice => Caulifower blitzed in a food processor

- Mayo => Mustard

- Mayo => Mashed Avocado

- Croutons => Almonds or Pecans

- Just about all salad dressings => Balsamic Vinegar

- Sugar => Unsweetened Applesauce

- Sugar => REAL Maple Syrup (limited of course)

- Mashed Potatoes => Mashed Cauliflower or Celeriac

- Canned Beans => Dry Beans (No preservatives or salt!)

- Bacon => Prosciutto

- Beef => Bison (If you can get it -- higher in B Vitamins and typically raised better)

- Milk => Unsweetened Almond Milk

- Soy Sauce => Coconut Aminos

- Potatoes => Sweet Potatoes

- Ice Cream => Whole Fruit Sorbet (directions below)

Obviously, this is just a partial list but it's what I use most often and honestly I really don't miss the originals that much. The time after surgery is the best time to re-train yourself on making good food choices, and the best way to do that (IMHO) is to simply cut ties with the foods that helped get you here...

For the Whole Fruit Sorbet you will need a juicer that has a "blank plate" attachment like an Omega auger-style juicer or something similar. I simply cut and/or peel the fruit I want to use (mango, banana, berries) and place the fruit into a zip-top freezer bag, freeze overnight and then run it through the juicer the next day. What comes out is basically no-sugar added 100% fruit sorbet and it's delicious!!! Even the kids love it! What's even better is that because you are using the whole fruit, you are preserving the beneficial fiber in the fruit.

The other thing that I do because with such a small stomach now it's near impossible to get enough veggies in as I would like and so I juice my veggies. I will add either a half of an apple or a single lemon to the juice to help cut the bitterness of the greens, but this way I can get in far more veggies than if I tried to eat them. I can typically get in 1-2 pounds of veggies per day through a combo of juicing/eating. If it were eating alone, I'd be lucky to get in a few ounces so that has helped me tremendously also.

Best of luck!

My approach post-op has been one of "simplicity". By simplicity, I don't mean it has been easy (it hasn't), but rather the food choices that I make now are ones that are "as whole as possible". I try to stick with foods and ingredients that have little to no processing and are as close to their natural state as possible.

If you're sticking with whole foods that aren't (or are minimally) processed, chances are you're eating things that are healthy (or healthier) for you than pretty much anything processed. Sure, Protein powders are processed, but are a necessity in the beginning. I do believe, however, that most surgeons would rather you get your protein from natural lean sources once you're able to. I do still use protein powder, but I try to stick with brands that have the shortest ingredients list.

If I stick with whole foods, I tend not to worry about carb counting as much as if I were eating things like tortillas (low carb or not), because natural sources of carbs like fruit are dealt with a lot differently by our bodies than carbs from bread. I only eat fruit in it's whole state (not juice -- with the exception of lemon juice over veggies) to be sure that the fiber contained in the fruit (that helps our bodies deal with the sugar) is intact.

As far as "replacements", I would stick with whole-food replacements. Use a swiss chard or collard leaf as a tortilla. Is it the same? Of course not. Is it the better choice? Absolutely. After doing this for a while I actually learned to love the taste and texture of it and actually prefer it as there are so many different things you can make!

You will have to find what works for you to replace the things that helped get you to the point of needing surgery in the first place. Whole foods and short ingredient lists is what's working for me. Some whole food subs I use are:

Processed Food => Replacement

- Pasta => Spaghetti Squash

- Pasta => Spiralized Zucchini

- Tortilla => Swiss Chard or Collard Leaves

- Bread Crumbs => Ground nuts and seeds

- Bread Crumbs => Flax Meal

- Rice => Quinoa

- Rice => Caulifower blitzed in a food processor

- Mayo => Mustard

- Mayo => Mashed Avocado

- Croutons => Almonds or Pecans

- Just about all salad dressings => Balsamic Vinegar

- Sugar => Unsweetened Applesauce

- Sugar => REAL Maple Syrup (limited of course)

- Mashed Potatoes => Mashed Cauliflower or Celeriac

- Canned Beans => Dry Beans (No preservatives or salt!)

- Bacon => Prosciutto

- Beef => Bison (If you can get it -- higher in B Vitamins and typically raised better)

- Milk => Unsweetened Almond Milk

- Soy Sauce => Coconut Aminos

- Potatoes => Sweet Potatoes

- Ice Cream => Whole Fruit Sorbet (directions below)

Obviously, this is just a partial list but it's what I use most often and honestly I really don't miss the originals that much. The time after surgery is the best time to re-train yourself on making good food choices, and the best way to do that (IMHO) is to simply cut ties with the foods that helped get you here...

For the Whole Fruit Sorbet you will need a juicer that has a "blank plate" attachment like an Omega auger-style juicer or something similar. I simply cut and/or peel the fruit I want to use (mango, banana, berries) and place the fruit into a zip-top freezer bag, freeze overnight and then run it through the juicer the next day. What comes out is basically no-sugar added 100% fruit sorbet and it's delicious!!! Even the kids love it! What's even better is that because you are using the whole fruit, you are preserving the beneficial fiber in the fruit.

The other thing that I do because with such a small stomach now it's near impossible to get enough veggies in as I would like and so I juice my veggies. I will add either a half of an apple or a single lemon to the juice to help cut the bitterness of the greens, but this way I can get in far more veggies than if I tried to eat them. I can typically get in 1-2 pounds of veggies per day through a combo of juicing/eating. If it were eating alone, I'd be lucky to get in a few ounces so that has helped me tremendously also.

Best of luck!

Wow, this is great information! Thank you so much for such a thorough response. I really appreciate all the suggestions on substitutions. I will definitely be giving those a try!

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I love the replacement list -- but I will say that almond milk a lot, a lot, a lot more "processed" and factory-food-ish than regular dairy milk. Unless the almond milk is homemade, of course.

I love the replacement list -- but I will say that almond milk a lot, a lot, a lot more "processed" and factory-food-ish than regular dairy milk. Unless the almond milk is homemade, of course.

I should have probably qualified the almond milk addition. Obviously homemade is the best way to go (I've been on a homemade cashew milk kick lately), but it's on there more from a lactose issue than a simple replacement issue. Straight dairy milk didn't agree with me post-op, but almond milk has been great. If I buy it, I try to find ones with the smallest list of ingredients as possible. I always make sure the brands I buy are Carrageenan free. If you are not lactose-intolerant and like cow-milk, then I would stick with local, organic milk from reputable farms.