Hello all, this is my first post. I’m having a hard time wanting to drink my protein shakes. I have craaaavings for pasta and pizza. 2 of the worst things for me right now lol! I had the VSG SW: 231 05/27/20 CW: 204.7 06/26/20. I’ve been on pureed diet for about 1 1/2 weeks now. Some days I’ll go just drinking water with my tea packets in it all day and not really feel hungry cause I know I can’t eat certain foods. I’m Italian, giving up pizza and pasta has been my worst nightmare. Anyone have any tips?? Anyone cheated on their diets?? What can I do??

Your getting close to the end of the puree diet. Right now, check if these are OK: soft scrambled eggs, non-fat yogurt, banana, applesauce, string cheese, low-fat ricotta cheese, peanut butter, mashed potatoes.

You'll be able to eat soft foods soon such as meatballs and chili. These can be prepared with turkey.

I am on the soft food diet now. I'll admit I had a couple of small slices of homemade from scratch pizza. Crust was prepared with whole wheat flour. It was a special occasion (Father's Day) but I don't plan to have pizza more than once every three months.

We're making fish, chicken noodle soup, beef barley soup, and stir fry beef and broccoli.

This is a good time to reevaluate meal planning for your weight loss journey.

1 hour ago, 90’schild said:

Hello all, this is my first post. I’m having a hard time wanting to drink my Protein Shakes. I have craaaavings for Pasta and pizza. 2 of the worst things for me right now lol! I had the VSG SW: 231 05/27/20 CW: 204.7 06/26/20. I’ve been on pureed diet for about 1 1/2 weeks now. Some days I’ll go just drinking Water with my tea packets in it all day and not really feel hungry cause I know I can’t eat certain foods. I’m Italian, giving up pizza and pasta has been my worst nightmare. Anyone have any tips?? Anyone cheated on their diets?? What can I do??

When I got to soft foods stage I started eating cauliflower pizza. It's a good substitute that follows your diet when you have a pizza craving. I can only eat one piece before I'm full, even now, but it's delicious and beats the cravings. Also, when you get into general food stage you can always get the veggie made Birds Eye pasta which is made with zucchini and lentils. I like the Rotini Marinara. I add a small handful of shredded cheese, a little parm, and some salt and pepper then split it into three servings. It helps with the pasta cravings and taste like spaghetti minus the meat lol. That's my suggestion. Just try to find substitutes that fit within your diet. That's what I do. I know it's hard, but trust me, it's worth it! You had the surgery to lose that weight, so you just have to do what you can to fight those cravings!

Once you are past your puree stage and can eat regular foods again, there are ways to get those foods you crave but still be healthy about it. For pizza, I make a ground chicken crust and do tomato sauce and cheese and veggies. It's super high protein and great for you.

I can't have pasta, but I found chickpea pasta, which surprisingly, doesn't taste too awful and is full of good fiber. There are ways to go about eating foods in a healthy way, but remember why you did the surgery. Your health is the most important thing right now.

You won't feel hungry for a while (or at all, for some people), so just eat healthy, drink your water, and once you can eat real foods again, look for healthy alternatives for your cravings. You got this, hang in there.

Try Joseph lavish bread with turkey pepperoni, sugar free tomato pizza sauce and low fat mozzarella cheese.

Time to go set a counselor to deal with your addictions asap before you go off the rails and ruin your wls

check for the recipe for ricotta back on "The World According to Eggface" blog. A lot of people love that, and it'll satisfy your craving for Italian food.

don't cheat. If you do, you'll be on a slippery slope and may never reach your goal.

Here's a link to a Ricotta Bake recipe from BariatricBits, for when you are able to tolerate soft foods:

https://bariatricbits.com/single-serve-baked-ricotta/

It's quick and easy to make, and is less than 150 calories.

Hey there, I'm Italian too (pre-op though) taught how to cook by my 1st gen Nona. I'm on my 6 month pre-op slow-carb diet plan rn. For pasta what I'm doing is using a food processor to mince veggies and garlic together, cooking and seasoning it with the meat (I half cook the meat first), then adding the sauce to it (about 3:1 veggies to meat, tonight I used carrots & broccoli) then instead of eating it with pasta I eat it over red beans. It's still carbs, but not the kind that make you fat or spike your blood sugar since they are slower to digest and have protein and fiber. The veggies meld with tomato sauce seamlessly and you get a lot of good nutrients in every ingredient (vs. the empty calories of pasta.) (I'm a bit of a child in that I often prefer hiding my veggies from myself.)

I agree with the above re: cauliflower crusts, just be careful about store bought ones and store-bought pre-made cauliflower crust pizzas because they can sometimes be a lot more flour than cauliflower and that's not the droid you're looking for. Best to make your own honestly. For risottos I find using riced cauliflower to be a pretty good substitute- it's super yummy when cooked with some marsala or sherry & chicken broth (I like mushrooms, shallots and garlic too). You can also get a spiralizer and use that for an alt. pasta with zucchini, squash or carrots. Cream sauces can be tricky because the usual recipe is heavy cream or 1/2 & 1/2. You can use milk with a little low fat cheese for flavor then thicken with a little xanthan gum. That is IF you can tolerate dairy.

This is of course for once you are on regular food. For a while you're gonna have to take things slow and figure out what your body needs and can handle. A lot of these cravings are part of the brain aspect of weight loss. Your bariatric team should include a counselor and/ or support group (besides us!) that can help you with it.

***I swear I didn't add all these hyperlinks- wth?

Edited June 27, 20206 yr by Suzi_the_Q

Get some serious help

8 hours ago, MIKEYY84 said:

Time to go set a counselor to deal with your addictions asap before you go off the rails and ruin your wls

3 hours ago, MIKEYY84 said:

Get some serious help

OK, I'm sure she heard you loud and clear. ?

6 hours ago, Suzi_the_Q said:

then thicken with a little xanthan gum.

Good luck with that. After surgery you may not be able to digest that. I can't have xanthan gum it messes with my stomach and... well, it's TMI, but it gives me gas and diarrhea. Before surgery I had no issue. Now I avoid it like the plague! They're post op so they may want to approach it with caution...

Try not to concentrate on what you can’t have. When you get to stage when you can eat all foods on program there are plenty to substitute with to satisfy cravings.
I love pizza. But it wasn’t til 8 months out that I ate cauliflower pizza. I did buy store brand from Costco- Miltons with roasted veggies. I added chicken sausage, part skim ricotta & RF mozzarella. Cooked in air fryer so crust was just crispy enough. Delicious. Yesterday I made lobster pizza from langostino also from Costco. I certainly do not feel deprived. But I’m really focused so I don’t fight with myself too much.

13 hours ago, 90’schild said:

Hello all, this is my first post. I’m having a hard time wanting to drink my Protein Shakes. I have craaaavings for Pasta and pizza. 2 of the worst things for me right now lol! I had the VSG SW: 231 05/27/20 CW: 204.7 06/26/20. I’ve been on pureed diet for about 1 1/2 weeks now. Some days I’ll go just drinking Water with my tea packets in it all day and not really feel hungry cause I know I can’t eat certain foods. I’m Italian, giving up pizza and pasta has been my worst nightmare. Anyone have any tips?? Anyone cheated on their diets?? What can I do??

That ricotta bake that someone, somewhere posted, is very good and satisfied my Italian craving. Portion control!

14 hours ago, California Guy said:

Your getting close to the end of the puree diet. Right now, check if these are OK: soft scrambled eggs, non-fat yogurt, banana, applesauce, string cheese, low-fat ricotta cheese, Peanut Butter, mashed potatoes.

You'll be able to eat soft foods soon such as meatballs and chili. These can be prepared with turkey.

I am on the soft food diet now. I'll admit I had a couple of small slices of homemade from scratch pizza. Crust was prepared with whole wheat flour. It was a special occasion (Father's Day) but I don't plan to have pizza more than once every three months.

We're making fish, chicken noodle Soup, beef barley soup, and stir fry beef and broccoli.

This is a good time to reevaluate meal planning for your weight loss journey.

I forgot to mention in my post that I’m vegetarian, so deciding what kind of foods to eat is kinda difficult. I made a big pot of veggie chili and I only ate it once. My tastebuds did not want it anymore. I have a bunch of already-made vegan food in my freezer, but I don’t think I’d like it blended lol.

10 hours ago, MIKEYY84 said:

Time to go set a counselor to deal with your addictions asap before you go off the rails and ruin your wls

I wouldn’t say I have an addiction. I just love Italian food. I became a vegetarian 8 months ago. I still get thoughts to eat non-vegetarian foods, but I know I worked too hard to not eat meat and it paid off big. It gave me so much energy and it’s healthier.