Hey everyone! So I had my surgery on 9/3. I am allowed to have purées on Friday (today is Tuesday) I’m so ready. I’m tired of just drinking. Is this Normal? I feel like I shouldn’t want to eat yet maybe? I don’t know if I necessarily feel hungry yet but I do feel like my stomach starts to feel empty and I want something. Fluids are filling me up fine just ready for next stage. Did anyone else feel like they were ready? I feel like there is something wrong with me!

second how will I know if I’m full? On liquids it’s like after a few sips I feel like it’s enough maybe. Like my mind telling me it’s enough but maybe my stomach also not feeling empty. This is so confusing.

Help please and thanks .

Not sure about any of that but was allowed to start pureed early and i love it try throwing some cooked chicken in the magic bullet with low carb bbq sauce mm

Itsmehab, I think many of us weren't sure in the beginning. I'm almost 3 weeks post op and have been doing soft/pureed foods now for just over a week. After reading so many experiences on here, I started SLOW - Like REALLY slow with soft foods. The first thing I had was a scrambled egg - I ate it with a baby spoon (and yup... felt really strange) and took tiny, slow bits at a time. As I was cooking it, I thought - Geez, there's no way this will fill me up. BUT... I was amazed!! I took about 15-20 minutes to eat it and felt full after about 3/4 of it and stopped.

So... My "moral" is to take it slow - I KNOW when I've had enough. From eggs, I went to soup (like chicken noodle since I was craving salt) in the blender and sipped on it slowly. Introduce one thing at a time to see if your pouch "likes" it. I've been trying new things every other day or so and knock on wood haven't had a problem. If it's something new, I'll only take a couple of bites and wait an hour or so to make sure all is well. Once you're comfortable with the food settling, make sure you only put as much as you should be eating in the bowl/plate. It's super easy to eat too fast and make yourself miserable (might have learned that the hard way with a cup of soup!)

As far as being ready, I also felt like I was ready earlier, but decided to follow my surgeons program to have the best chances of no complications. I read about folks who have problems and they don't sound so pleasant so I just figured it's not worth taking the chance to advance too quickly.

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Agree with everyone...go slow and stay on liquids as long as possible...but maybe get creative. The best think I did at this stage was pick up soup (Summer Corn Chowder) and strained it and IT WAS AMAZING! YUM!!

The worst thing I did was attempt "Egg Drop Soup" with TWO eggs (probably my big mistake) scrambled and stirred into chicken broth. I was so excited to be "eating" something, that I drank the whole thing in about 15 minutes...and spent the rest of the day and the following morning in the bathroom. I believe it was the infamous dumping syndrome. Tried again when I actually hit the puree stage with a scrambled egg and yup, back in the bathroom. Three weeks later, I tried again with more success but I have only had 2 eggs (one scrambled, one hard boiled) unless they were part of a recipe and completely incorporated!

Good luck, I hope it works out for you!

I was ready for purees. It didn't necessarily mean I was hungry (I wasn't...), but I was tired of liquids and ready to move on.

as far as knowing when you're full, full cues are different after surgery, and you may not even have any full cues early out. You had some nerves cut and it takes awhile for them to regenerate. Just measure out what you're supposed to eat, according to your plan, and just eat that. At some point you'll start recognizing your new "full" cues, but they could be different than they were pre-surgery. At five years out, I still don't feel "full" the way I used to. I just feel sort of uncomfortable (I know that's pretty vague, but I'm not sure how to describe it). When I start feeling that, I know if I continue to eat, I'm likely to get sick. Some people feel pressure in their chest, some people's noses start running - it varies. But it'll take awhile to recognize yours.

Everyone above nailed it - But you will get the hang of it - You will figure out your limits and what you can handle

Slow and Steady wins the Journey

I think just about everybody is happy to get to the pureed stage and eat something resembling real food after weeks on liquids only!

I'm 8 weeks out and I'm not sure if I've felt "restriction" yet. I'm theoretically allowed to eat normal foods now, but I still mainly stick to soft and mushy foods because I don't want to push it and get sick. Sometimes when I eat meat (even when it's soft and moist, like shredded canned chicken mixed with enchilada sauce), it will feel like it's stuck. It's quite uncomfortable and I have to stop eating for a bit while I wait for it to move. I don't think it's because I'm full because sometimes it happens a couple of tiny bites into the meal, and once it gets unstuck, I can finish the rest. I eat about 3-4 ounces per meal, and I haven't really gotten to the point that I couldn't eat another bite. But maybe that's because I'm only eating soft foods.

It is all pretty weird, because I don't feel full, but I also don't feel hungry. I just measure out the right amount of food and eat it. I do worry about whether I will feel restriction once the hunger comes back, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

4 hours ago, BigSue said:

I think just about everybody is happy to get to the pureed stage and eat something resembling real food after weeks on liquids only!

I'm 8 weeks out and I'm not sure if I've felt "restriction" yet. I'm theoretically allowed to eat normal foods now, but I still mainly stick to soft and mushy foods because I don't want to push it and get sick. Sometimes when I eat meat (even when it's soft and moist, like shredded canned chicken mixed with enchilada sauce), it will feel like it's stuck. It's quite uncomfortable and I have to stop eating for a bit while I wait for it to move. I don't think it's because I'm full because sometimes it happens a couple of tiny bites into the meal, and once it gets unstuck, I can finish the rest. I eat about 3-4 ounces per meal, and I haven't really gotten to the point that I couldn't eat another bite. But maybe that's because I'm only eating soft foods.

It is all pretty weird, because I don't feel full, but I also don't feel hungry. I just measure out the right amount of food and eat it. I do worry about whether I will feel restriction once the hunger comes back, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I only do one ounce. Also i puree the chicken into a creamy goo. I want to try two ounces today. Today i am trying ground turkey seasoned with taco seasoning and some nacho cheese. Chicken can be heavy and at 3/4 ounce make my nose run sometimes which my nutritionist says some people have as a sign pouch is full. I cant imagine eating 4 ounce all at once lol

3 minutes ago, tarotcardreader said:

I only do one ounce. Also i puree the chicken into a creamy goo. I want to try two ounces today. Today i am trying ground turkey seasoned with taco seasoning and some nacho cheese. Chicken can be heavy and at 3/4 ounce make my nose run sometimes which my nutritionist says some people have as a sign pouch is full. I cant imagine eating 4 ounce all at once lol

I don't eat more than 1 ounce of meat at a time, but I eat it with something pureed or liquid (e.g., 1 ounce shredded chicken + 1 ounce enchilada sauce + 1.5 ounces refried beans, or 1/2 ounce ground turkey + 1 ounce marinara sauce + 2 ounces ricotta bake). I don't puree the meat because I just find it unappetizing, but I shred chicken with a fork or chop up the ground turkey into very small pieces. I am 8 weeks out, so I'm theoretically allowed to eat solid food now. I didn't even try meat until I was 5 weeks out.

My program is different, I had to do clear liquids for one week. Full liquids for another week before I could move on to purée foods. All I can say it take it slow. If you try purée foods and don’t feel ready you can always go back to liquids and call your doctor and let them know. My surgeon said if something doesn’t agree with you there’s nothing wrong with taking a step back.

22 minutes ago, BigSue said:

I don't eat more than 1 ounce of meat at a time, but I eat it with something pureed or liquid (e.g., 1 ounce shredded chicken + 1 ounce enchilada sauce + 1.5 ounces refried Beans, or 1/2 ounce ground turkey + 1 ounce marinara sauce + 2 ounces ricotta bake). I don't puree the meat because I just find it unappetizing, but I shred chicken with a fork or chop up the ground turkey into very small pieces. I am 8 weeks out, so I'm theoretically allowed to eat solid food now. I didn't even try meat until I was 5 weeks out.

I was given purees at 1 week well mainly cause i seemed to be hurling the shakes and the shakes caused some kind of strange gurgling noise in my throat as well. I was regurging the shakes all night long. At 4 weeks i start the next part and was given a handout for it. I did surgery aug 28. I am not allowed to have beef or pork yet so the meat kind is limited. I have had egg white w cheese and fish filet which were good. everything else i puree into baby food goo lol