How have your taste buds and cravings changed post-surgery? What foods used to be your favourites that you now can barely even look at?

For me it's everything sweet. My tolerance is at zero. My shakes and protein water that I have to drink daily are completely punitive and something I just have to suffer through. My partner and I went to a fave cafe for lunch today and they bake all manner of tasty treats, including black sesame baked doughnuts that we both loved. They're less sweet than regular doughnuts and the flavour was delicious. My partner grabbed one after lunch with his second coffee, and out of curiosity, I stuck my finger in the tiniest bit and brought it to my tongue. Thankfully I had my own coffee to get the taste out of my mouth. It was horrid.

Savoury is my best friend. Thank god for savoury.

Edited November 5, 20214 yr by Smanky

3 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

I was neither someone who craved specifically sweet or specifically savoury - more an equal opportunist & liked a bit of both. But sugar now? No thank you. Sweet things taste super sweet. Accidentally bought a box of honey instant oats sachets. Disgusting. Gave them to my mum who couldn’t believe I thought they were crazy sweet.

There were some things my tummy didn’t like to begin like my favourite vegetables (asparagus, broccolini, sugar snap peas) but after a month or so they were back on the menu. I still struggle a bit with mango. My restriction kicks in early & I gurgle lots. Do I still eat mango? Yes occasionally. But I go slow & eat small amounts at a time. Can’t be a Queenslander & not eat mangoes. ?

Savoury is still fine. cheese, hummus & multi grain crackers when socialising, roasted fava Beans (the chick pea ones taste like feet) as an odd treat. If I want a savoury hit I sometimes roll cucumber in sea salt. Salty goodness. But it’s not often. Lately I’ve been eating salmon sashimi with soya sauce for a salty savoury hit (with bonus protein) for lunch.

I was born and raised in Queensland, and I bought a mango two days ago because it's almost automatic when fruit season hits! It's sitting in the fruit bowl, staring at me as I realise I'm super nervous to try it. My first fruit season and Christmas in Brisbane is going to be an interesting time! It ain't a QLD Christmas without summer fruit platters. ? I'm yet to try fruit and I'm hoping my anti-sweet tastebuds won't apply to that!

And like your mum with the oats, my partner has also been baffled at what I think is too sweet. Ordered a matcha latte at a cafe, and could not drink it because it had been sweetened. My partner took it off my hands and said it wasn't sweet at all. Swear to god it was!

7 hours ago, Dave In Houston said:

I developed a couple aversions that are noteworthy.

The first is yogurt. I used to eat lots of yogurt, specifically a Kroger artificially sweetened one they call Carbmaster. In preparation for surgery, I bought 40 or 50 cartons. Almost 6 months after surgery, I have forced one or two down. The rest are in the garage refrigerator waiting to be thrown out.

I also used to drink Protein Shakes from an outfit called Diet Direct. They cost about $11 for a box of 7, powder in envelopes. (They have to be mixed up in a blender.) The Premier Protein shakes taste better to me and they have more Protein. But I own 50 or 60 boxes of the kind I don't like any more.

My recommendation to anybody who hasn't had surgery yet: don't stock up on anything, even things that are mainstays of your diet. You might be wasting your money.

Agree on not stocking up. I bought 6 cases of different Premier Protein shakes and now I do not like them. Blech! Spent last week returning them and ones I can’t I am giving to a friend going on the 2 week pre op liver shrink diet. I can handle sweet it’s just some artificial sweeteners I do not like. I still am fine with Stevia so I can have a Lilly’s peanut butter cup. But truthfully I now really love spices in everything. I have a new weird love for cumin. I enjoy it so much I can eat it by the teaspoon alone.

Edited November 6, 20214 yr by Vfls

Eggs I used to eat 1 hard boiled egg in the morning and I can’t stand the smell or consistency. Tried scrambled eggs and same result. On the soft food stage currently

Pasta. I love pasta. I make my own pasta. I have an array of pasta-making tools. I know how to cook pasta and how to marry condiments to pasta.

It all tastes like gluey wallboard to me now. Which is fine, because I certainly don't need to be eating it. But it's a bit heartbreaking.

I have found I don't actually want more than a bite of anything sweet. And I mean a bariatric-sized bite, not a "barely fits on the spoon due to the intrusive influence of gravity" bite. We had something quite spicy yesterday and I bought a piece of flan ("chiquito", she called it, "really small", it was probably 8 cm/3 in on a side). A tiny bit, not even enough to assuage the chile fire within my mouth, and I pushed it away. My fiancé was shocked, because in the Before Times I would have hoovered up the entire piece and gone for seconds.

And deli roast beef now just tastes like those fake dead powdered spices they use on it. I don't have an issue with beef in general, even steak, but deli roast beef is gross to me now.

What are the foamies?

Foamies are lots of saliva & mucus you have to spit up. Usually occurs if the food you eat is too dry & your body has to produce extra mucus & saliva for lubrication. Or if you eat too much or too fast. It just rises & fills your mouth. For me it doesn’t have any food in it. Some people say it includes food as well but I call that vomiting or regurgitation.

Sometimes the mucus is so thick it gets stuck in my throat - like phlegm. Sorry if too gross. I can’t bring it up so my body tries to clear it by gagging & making this barking type noise. Not pretty at all.

I never was that into sweets anyway, but after surgery I found them disgusting, especially the shakes. It took everything I had to get them down early on. After about 6 months I was able to tolerate them and now I like the shakes again.
I have never been a big bread or sandwich eater, but especially since surgery I find that I just don't care for bread very much. I can't even explain what it is but I don't enjoy it.
I LOVED speaking water (like LaCroix) before surgery and drank it all the time. For the first year I was not allowed to have it, but then I could in moderation. I am 16 months post op and I've tried it twice in the last 2 weeks and it does nothing for me now. It even seems to upset my stomach a little now. I'm so surprised by this!
I've always been a bit of a saltaholic too, and now things take a lot more salty to me. It's crazy!
Other than those things, I still like most of the foods I liked before. Now that I can eat more I'm super happy to be able to fit in some veggies, which one always loved.

On 11/5/2021 at 11:36 PM, Splenda said:

My tastes have changed to the extent that I judge foods by "How enjoyable/easy is it going to be to chew that food real good before I swallow."

Pre-surgery, I loved steak. Especially fajitas. But even if I knew my stomach could handle steak (I am 2.5 months out and sure it couldn't), the idea of chewing a piece of steak down to being super soft repulses me. It's not worth it.

Another one was watermelon. I tried some about a month ago. The flavor was fine, but chewing it down is just a terrible experience. It feels like you are trying to break down little strings of plastic in your mouth.

it will get better I was a bit like you and avoided certain foods. I can say I really enjoyed a piece of steak the other day it was good quality nice and tender so i didn't feel i needed to chew it to a mush. I have also had water melon and I didn't over chew that either and it went down fine. I even had a sausage in fresh bread the other day which i was really worried about and it went down way better than i thought it would ......... I am 16 weeks post op

Prosecco! ?

Chicken. Yuk.

my favourite meat now makes me want to vomit! Even watching other people eat it… im 16 weeks out and this has been a thing the last 3 weeks. Prior to that I was fine.

steak, beef, lamb, pork and bacon are all fine. However i’m now not as interested in meat as I was before and simply eat it for protein.

From the get-go I can not handle sweet stuff… no way. Even sweet drinks or protein shakes are a no no

I’m also going off anything with flavour lol ? spices, garlic, herbs. I don’t like cream or heavy sauces.

I am turning into one of those ‘fussy eater’ types I used to despise because I would eat everything!

i just crave plain pasta with cheese.

Had surgery September 29th loss 43.5 so far. Gave up coffee, Diet Pepsi and chocolate candy ….I don’t crave for them. Hardest part for me is eating …..I have cravings for food but cannot eat very much at all.

3 years out.

I *thought* I had broken up with bread, but we got back together. ?

I’m post op day 11 and I’m in the process of divorcing food.

I’m Filipino and grew up eating rice 3 times a day and that’s the first thing I’m divorcing. I can’t wait to see my relationship with eggs and meat. Hope it’s not that drastic.

17 hours ago, Charotera303 said:

I’m post op day 11 and I’m in the process of divorcing food.

I’m Filipino and grew up eating rice 3 times a day and that’s the first thing I’m divorcing. I can’t wait to see my relationship with eggs and meat. Hope it’s not that drastic.

I used to eat rice multiple times a day myself pre-op.

It was surprising how much I DIDN’T miss it the first two years. Around the 2 year mark, I had my first rice in the form of a maki roll. Turns out It’s quite filling for me and I could eat only 1, maaaaybe 2 pieces at a time. Still don’t eat rice like I did pre-op…and if I do, it’s only on the rare occasion I decide to have maki. Same goes for pasta and potatoes.

9 hours ago, ms.sss said:

I used to eat rice multiple times a day myself pre-op.

It was surprising how much I DIDN’T miss it the first two years. Around the 2 year mark, I had my first rice in the form of a maki roll. Turns out It’s quite filling for me and I could eat only 1, maaaaybe 2 pieces at a time. Still don’t eat rice like I did pre-op…and if I do, it’s only on the rare occasion I decide to have maki. Same goes for Pasta and potatoes.

Thank you for this. I have been reading about carbs I can eat and I’m so scared about rice, bread, and pasta. I understand that it will take up to 18 months for the pouch to stretch again. In the meantime, sashimi is my new sushi order.