Over and over and over, people in the early post-op period ask "CAN I eat _______?". That blank is filled with all kinds of things, like pizza, chips, ice cream, fried chicken, funnel cakes, crab cakes, steak...whatever they're craving.

The answer to every. single. one. of those questions is YES. Once you're surgically cleared to resume a full diet, you CAN eat ANYTHING. You didn't have your jaw wired shut or have your teeth pulled, so yes, you CAN eat all foods.

The real question you need to ask yourself is "SHOULD I eat ________?". The only person who can answer the "SHOULD" question for you is YOU. I, or anyone else here, can give your my opinion on eating funnel cakes, chips and pizza after having most of your stomach removed to help you lose weight, but only you can decide to eat it or not eat it.

So coming here and asking "CAN I?" questions is kind of disingenuous, as all of the answers you get are going to be answering the REAL question, which is "SHOULD I?". Think about that before you get defensive and angry about the answers you get from successful vets who are 2-5+ years out and maintaining successfully.

Hey there @@ShelterDog64! Absolutely spot on. I really don't understand not being responsible for our own decisions. Maybe needing permission makes it easier to eat what you want to eat even if it doesn't help with the weightloss.

I made choices last month that I knew would hinder my weightloss a little. I live with the consequences. During the post op diet phase, I kept my doctors list for each stage handy and adhered 100%. I wasn't willing to risk a complication. All has worked out well. Adopting a lifestyle change and letting the old diet mentally go has helped me a lot!

Happy New Year!

Haha, I read through a lot of those posts, and then have the debate of "Can I answer this post?" vs "Should I answer this post?" A lot of times I just close the window and move on, depending on the vibe I get from the OP or some of the other answers.

Good post, and good information!

@@suzzzzz I think part of it is people looking for someone else to endorse bad decisions so the guilt isn't as bad. I suspect people think, "Well, if I can get other fat people who are allegedly losing weight to say it's okay, I can get away with it!"

But that's just my opinion.

The worst to me is actually when people say they "shouldn't have been able to eat" a certain thing, so they are mad that their sleeve "isn't working".

I am currently on my pre-op diet and it isn't going so great. I'll get into a zone for a day or two where I'm drinking just shakes and Protein Water and I feel great, don't even feel hungry any more. Then I'll slip a little, adding a banana to a protein smoothie, for instance. I don't need to come on here to ask if I can or should add the dumb banana. I know the answer to that. It specifically says next to the list of approved full liquids that I should not add fruit to my smoothies. Everyone who is doing this surgery with a reputable surgeon/practice has a similar list in their binder of information. If I genuinely don't remember if something is allowed by my surgeon, I can always look it up.

And one slip becomes two, and two become more, and suddenly I'm standing in the kitchen in the middle of the night eating Ritz crackers with butter and brown sugar on top. So I pick myself back up and start over the next day. What else can I do?

But yeah, I don't get all of the "confusion" about which foods are allowed and which aren't. If you didn't learn that in your pre-op phase, you need to pick up your info now and read it thoroughly. And if you lost your info, you need to call your practice for another copy. And if you already ate something you shouldn't have eaten, you need to figure out how you can get back on track, not how you can justify what you've done.

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I used to have an English teacher who would answer the question "Can I go to the bathroom?" with "Yes you can, but you may not!". I always hated that teacher, but I did learn the difference between CAN and MAY.

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@@ShelterDog64

Amen!

Any more Can I posts...I'm on board to post a BIG

the REAL question, which is "SHOULD I?".

@@suzzzzz Hello friend! Happy New Year to you as well

You're talking about taking responsibility for your actions and that's not behavior that's seen very often around here. It drives me NUTS the way folks want their poor choices validated.

I just ate a piece of cheese toast. It was a crappy choice. If I'm lucky, I won't eat even more because I was dumb enough to have white bread which I know is a 'gateway food' for me. I own it

@@suzzzzz Hello friend! Happy New Year to you as well

You're talking about taking responsibility for your actions and that's not behavior that's seen very often around here. It drives me NUTS the way folks want their poor choices validated.

I just ate a piece of cheese toast. It was a crappy choice. If I'm lucky, I won't eat even more because I was dumb enough to have white bread which I know is a 'gateway food' for me. I own it

Yummmmmmm... cheeese toast. I haven't had that since I was a small child. Of course, I don't think I've seen the cheese my mom used since way back when either. It was a white cheese with some sort of seeds in it. OMG that stuff was awesome melted on bread in the broiler. I wouldn't know where to even start looking for that cheese now. But thank you so much for making me think about it, because now I'm going to be obsessed with it. LOL.

Wow. This is quite sad. While I don't defend people who are asking about funnel cakes etc... I do have a somewhat different perspective.

Not everyone is intelligent or has common sense. Many people (me ) were self pay and had NO pre op classes, no nutritionist, no counseling, no booklet to refer to. My friend on the other hand had all of that plus a huge binder to refer to. Thank God I'm in the medical profession and read what I needed to.

We all got overweight for different reasons. Some lack of education, some emotional trauma, lack of money or resources, hereditary, or any other reason we know nothing about.

The sleeve didn't cure them but then the sleeve didn't cure their mind either.

It's like an alcoholic---just because he is in the 12 step program doesn't mean he knows it all or can control it.

They go to seek advice and help -so do some here.

No one is perfect and yes they might need justification but maybe that is their coping mechanism that they are working thru. Let's hope they are successful with whatever coping mechanisms work for them (instead of food)

Yes , there are trolls and really dumb questions but we are not in their shoes and don't know their intentions or reasons.

I see patients who are on 5 liters of oxygen but still smoke, I had a patients husband tell me he puts 18 sugars in his coffee and gives his diabetic wife juice with no idea it had tons of sugar in it. I have patients that have no idea what a carb or Protein is.

I don't ridicule them or make them feel dumb. I try to educate them.

I think everyone hopes to be a success story and be around to help guide others. But unfortunately the sleeve doesn't do the work and there are so many people that need support whether it's to educate or listen or just let them vent.

Yes we all know it should be common sense not to eat Cookies, cake and candy. But if someone takes the time to ask maybe you will be the ONE voice of reason that helps them on their journey and gets thru to them.

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I was a teacher in a past life and I would always annoy the poo out of my students when they asked "Can I go to the bathroom?"

I'd always answer "yes--I'm sure you can", but I'd refuse to write them a pass.

The question is "MAY I go the bathroom?".

Big diff...

I used to have an English teacher who would answer the question "Can I go to the bathroom?" with "Yes you can, but you may not!". I always hated that teacher, but I did learn the difference between CAN and MAY.

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HA!!! I didn't read the responses before I posted!! Was I your English teacher?

Nope. I taught math/science/EXed. HAHAHAA!

@@suzzzzz Hello friend! Happy New Year to you as well

You're talking about taking responsibility for your actions and that's not behavior that's seen very often around here. It drives me NUTS the way folks want their poor choices validated.

I just ate a piece of cheese toast. It was a crappy choice. If I'm lucky, I won't eat even more because I was dumb enough to have white bread which I know is a 'gateway food' for me. I own it

Yummmmmmm... cheeese toast. I haven't had that since I was a small child. Of course, I don't think I've seen the cheese my mom used since way back when either. It was a white cheese with some sort of seeds in it. OMG that stuff was awesome melted on bread in the broiler. I wouldn't know where to even start looking for that cheese now. But thank you so much for making me think about it, because now I'm going to be obsessed with it. LOL.

Wegmans or Whole Foods is always the answer. Go to the cheese counter and describe it. They can find it.

I used to have an English teacher who would answer the question "Can I go to the bathroom?" with "Yes you can, but you may not!". I always hated that teacher, but I did learn the difference between CAN and MAY.

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HA!!! I didn't read the responses before I posted!! Was I your English teacher?

Nope. I taught math/science/EXed. HAHAHAA!

I need tutoring.

MAY i become an obedient student ?

I used to have an English teacher who would answer the question "Can I go to the bathroom?" with "Yes you can, but you may not!". I always hated that teacher, but I did learn the difference between CAN and MAY.

Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

HA!!! I didn't read the responses before I posted!! Was I your English teacher?

Nope. I taught math/science/EXed. HAHAHAA!

I need tutoring.

MAY i become an obedient student ?

Go stand in the corner. We will talk during detention.

A lot of people think the sleeve or even the bypass will prevent them from eating certain things.

The thing is even with surgery. food addictions will make people eat things they shouldn't ignoring pain and discomfort.

Nothing but not wanting to is going to stop people from eating things.

I purposely chose the sleeve over the band and the bypass because it offered the most normal life post op. I knew I would be able to eat basically anything if I didn't have complications. That was the appeal of the sleeve.

After months of eating healthy and getting results from it. I never want to go back to eating how I did before. Not even a little bit. The benefits of losing weight and being small far out weigh the taste of any food. Yet, I don't feel deprived at all because the sleeve helped me change my attitude about food.

I hope that more people can make the life changing mental changes with food that are really the key to success. Surgery, the physical part is such a small fleeting thing.