I am 5 weeks out. I was so unprepared for the real journey ahead of me because Everyone wanted to sugar coat the truth. I am learning as I go and I found this group. THANK GOD. I am finding so much you "need" but they all come with a link, or a sales pitch. I do not want to spend thousands of dollars in the must haves. I know it is a journey so I had planned on making a plan and buying and building my kitchen monthly. But Where to start..... I have the obvious... Blender, storage containers, strainers... Never thought about smaller utensils. (Why do you need ice trays I have seen it but I do not get it yet)? So here is the top "Recommendations" Can y'all help please?

Blender - (Check), Ice Cube trays (Why), Smaller Dishes, Smaller Utensils, Measuring cups and spoons, Food Scale, Food Journal, Electric Kettle, Meal prep containers (for your kitchen, to keep in your pocket book, condiment containers), Blender cups, personal blender, Vacuumed Sealer, Veg. Slicer, Steam Basket, Portion mate, Meal prep Lunch box.

Where do you start and what is the most important ?

9 minutes ago, Spiderbaby289 said:

I am 5 weeks out. I was so unprepared for the real journey ahead of me because Everyone wanted to sugar coat the truth. I am learning as I go and I found this group. THANK GOD. I am finding so much you "need" but they all come with a link, or a sales pitch. I do not want to spend thousands of dollars in the must haves. I know it is a journey so I had planned on making a plan and buying and building my kitchen monthly. But Where to start..... I have the obvious... Blender, storage containers, strainers... Never thought about smaller utensils. (Why do you need ice trays I have seen it but I do not get it yet)? So here is the top "Recommendations" Can y'all help please?

Blender - (Check), Ice Cube trays (Why), Smaller Dishes, Smaller Utensils, Measuring cups and spoons, food scale, Food Journal, Electric Kettle, Meal prep containers (for your kitchen, to keep in your pocket book, condiment containers), Blender cups, personal blender, Vacuumed Sealer, Veg. Slicer, Steam Basket, Portion mate, Meal prep lunch box.

Where do you start and what is the most important ?

It seems you have the most important things already.

I would say the blender, food journal, food scale and measuring cups are at the top of the list. They rest may just be for everyday life not specific to WLS.

I assume the ice tray is for freezing soup/broth but you're probably past that stage (liquids only), so it's just for making ice now.

NOTHING!

You do not need to buy anything The bottom line is you have to use the tool to get healthy. A small Plate can not do it if you put COOKIES in it, I did not buy a single special thing and used what I have in house already.

Now what you need to buy is healthy food, have a good plan, and master the art of Smoothies and Shakes. The key to this is you change in lifestyle not your change in plates and accessories.

Ok that was harsh but a fact

Now if you think buying all these gadgets will make you happy and successful for sure buy them, As for Meal prep You can get containers on Amazon if you do that kind of prep. I personally do not prep for myself but do prep for my kids who are on a insane work out and healthy fitness goal. I love to prep a meal - Chicken Asparagus and fruit and vacuum seal them for them. They just drop them in the Souse Verde open and done! So that may be a way for you to prep for days.

For now Set the plan and goals then as you progress down the path get the system that works best for you. You will love this journey and welcome

for me the measuring cups beakers etc and 1-2oz containers from amazon were most important. I also find my klean kanteen to be good for fluids (keeping stuff hot or cold). I still use a smaller plate. I no longer use a blender. i plan to start using the pocket scale i got more but havent yet

Nothing. I didn't buy anything special for my kitchen. I used my postage meter scale once or twice to weigh food but that's about it. I already had measuring cups. I didn't change the size of my plates or anything. You don't have to invest a lot of money in it. Just use common sense and follow your surgeon's directions.

I didn't buy any kitchen tools either. Never really thought that I needed anything. The hospital sent me home with a bunch of disposable 2 ounce plastic shot glasses, but I only used them a few times.

Save your $$ for your new wardrobe someday soon!!

I don't have a lot of that stuff. I use my blender a lot. As in several times a week. Food scale is also a good investment. I already had measuring cups, but I bought a set of 8 oz ramekins so I could tell how much I was eating without having to measure everything.

I do have an electric kettle and use it to make tea - and heat water for SF Jello - but I don't know why you would need it after surgery. If you need to heat water, you can still do it the old-fashioned way. I don't know why you'd need the ice cube trays. Or most of the rest of that stuff. Some of it might be nice to have - but certainly not necessary.

Food storage containers (like various sizes of Tupperware) are great to have regardless of if you've had surgery or not, but I already had a lot of those...

Like most, I didn't buy anything special as I basically had all that I needed in my kitchen already.

Of these things, the things I used multiple times a day were:

• the food scale
• measuring cup/spoons
• insulated coffee mug (cuz I preferred to sip my water HOT).
• wide mouth water bottle for mixing protein shakes (didn't use my blender once).

Further, while they aren't kitchen items, I also used the timer on my watch and a food log app on my phone (MyFitnessPal)

I ate out of teacups (I measured them to hold 1/2 cup volume so worked out great)

Edited to add: I'm 2+ years out and now that I think of it, I still use all of the things listed above practically every day still, except maybe the timer and protein shake water bottle. And the water in my insulated coffee mug holds ice water now, lol)

Edited December 18, 20205 yr by ms.sss

The only extra thing I bought was a food scale so I could properly track my food intake. I eat on my side plates and already had a ninja (although, I haven't used the ninja for anything pertaining to my diet over the last 3 weeks - kids like milkshakes).

I use my food scales every day, my weight scales every day (already had them), and my blood pressure cuff every day (high blood pressure, already had it).

I bought quite a few things for post surgery and the ones I've used a lot are: good quality electronic food scales (my diet plan is focused on calories/food weights rather than cup measurements); a good quality blender (the least expensive nutribullet); some additional small food containers for the freezer (they hold approx 100ml - very useful for stewed apple, liquidised fruit etc) and some new weight scales (Renpho) which show all sorts of measurements. Hope that helps!

You don’t NEED most of that stuff, but some of those things are useful. These are the things I use a lot:

• Food scale - I prefer to measure my food by weight rather than volume. It’s more precise and you don’t have to get a measuring cup dirty.
• Small food storage containers (4-5 ounces) - You’ll get a lot of portions out of a recipe now, and it’s really convenient to portion them out into individual servings and freeze.
• Disposable 2-ounce cups with lids - I go through tons of these; they’re great for holding or storing small quantities of ingredients.
• Small utensils - very optional (you can certainly still use regular utensils), but I prefer using small ones because they make it easier to take small bites and eat slowly.
• Milk frother/personal blender - this makes it so much easier to mix protein drinks and mix protein powder into liquids. Protein powder will probably be an important part of your diet for months, so this is nice to have.
• Small nonstick skillet - I’m almost always cooking for one, and an 8-inch skillet is the perfect size for, say, one scrambled egg or one serving of green beans.

I brought a BlendJet! (Personal blender can make anything) Love it.
Ice trays I get... some people live off ice cubes to get their water intake or store left over food or sauces. I use my ice trays for smoothies. Thick and frothy.
That’s it besides, jello, pudding mixes, protein shakes, and powder peanut butter.

Good luck

The only thing I purchased was a food scale and it was worth every penny. A lot of food is packaged and labeled in a way that makes it hard to determine exactly how much you are consuming. The scale made it easy for me.