How much can I eat in a sitting 1-4 weeks after surgery?

[JoyLilith 2]

I'm a few days post op and feeling okay overall. I've started with the liquid phase and currently I'm making banana smoothies with added Protein that I drink throughout the day. I drink Water in the morning, wait 10 minutes and then I sit down and slowly get one glas of smoothie down in 30 minutes. It's maybe 200ml or 2dl. Is that too much in one sitting this early on? I don't feel nausea or too full, but I do have some pain in my stomach most of the time, but that's pretty normal this soon after surgery? Should I just see how it goes further down or does anyone feel like this is absolutely too much and that I should take longer?

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[Pete-TheTimeIsNow 48]

During weeks 1-4 if you are on liquids/purees, the restriction won't kick in. You'll feel the restriction when you go on solids. This is why the Dr. suggested to limit the purees by volume, to avoid taking in a lot of cals. (And I guess to train me in the proper portion sizes for later)

After the surgery gas dissipated, I haven't experienced stomach pain. While eating or otherwise. Had some discomfort a couple of times when eating puree too fast (big spoonful, not waiting enough time in between)

This is more or less what I followed.

• Week 1. Used a 2oz medicine cup. One every 10-15 minutes. More like 5 minutes toward the end. If too fast, would get stomach pain.
• Week 2. liquid diet, Protein Shakes, etc. I could drink a Protein Shake (12 oz), in about 30 mins. Just a sip at a time, no particular wait in between. 3-4 shakes per day.
• Week 3 - 4. pureed phase. 2 Shakes. 2 Snacks. 2 meals (whatever Protein was for lunch/dinner, pureed with salsa,broth or mayo). meals limited to 3 fl. oz. (~ 1/3 cup)
• Week 5. Solids. Dr. suggested 2 shakes, 1-2 snacks, and 2 meals. Meals consisting of 4 oz total. 2 oz protein, 1oz vegs. and 1 oz carbs (optional).

[JoyLilith 2]

During weeks 1-4 if you are on liquids/purees, the restriction won't kick in. You'll feel the restriction when you go on solids. This is why the Dr. suggested to limit the purees by volume, to avoid taking in a lot of cals. (And I guess to train me in the proper portion sizes for later)
After the surgery gas dissipated, I haven't experienced stomach pain. While eating or otherwise. Had some discomfort a couple of times when eating puree too fast (big spoonful, not waiting enough time in between)
This is more or less what I followed.

• Week 1. Used a 2oz medicine cup. One every 10-15 minutes. More like 5 minutes toward the end. If too fast, would get stomach pain.
• Week 2. liquid diet, Protein Shakes, etc. I could drink a Protein Shake (12 oz), in about 30 mins. Just a sip at a time, no particular wait in between. 3-4 shakes per day.
• Week 3 - 4. pureed phase. 2 shakes. 2 Snacks. 2 meals (whatever Protein was for lunch/dinner, pureed with salsa,broth or mayo). meals limited to 3 fl. oz. (~ 1/3 cup)
• Week 5. Solids. Dr. suggested 2 shakes, 1-2 Snacks, and 2 meals. Meals consisting of 4 oz total. 2 oz Protein, 1oz vegs. and 1 oz carbs (optional).

Thank you so much! Okay, so it's more important to be super slow when introducing solid foods? I have some pain in my incisions and some in my stomach but that doesn't corelate with eating, so I guess it's all good.

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[Spinoza 1,494]

On 12/2/2021 at 11:50 AM, Pete-TheTimeIsNow said:

During weeks 1-4 if you are on liquids/purees, the restriction won't kick in. You'll feel the restriction when you go on solids. This is why the Dr. suggested to limit the purees by volume, to avoid taking in a lot of cals. (And I guess to train me in the proper portion sizes for later)

After the surgery gas dissipated, I haven't experienced stomach pain. While eating or otherwise. Had some discomfort a couple of times when eating puree too fast (big spoonful, not waiting enough time in between)

This is more or less what I followed.

• Week 1. Used a 2oz medicine cup. One every 10-15 minutes. More like 5 minutes toward the end. If too fast, would get stomach pain.
• Week 2. liquid diet, Protein Shakes, etc. I could drink a Protein Shake (12 oz), in about 30 mins. Just a sip at a time, no particular wait in between. 3-4 shakes per day.
• Week 3 - 4. pureed phase. 2 shakes. 2 Snacks. 2 meals (whatever Protein was for lunch/dinner, pureed with salsa,broth or mayo). meals limited to 3 fl. oz. (~ 1/3 cup)
• Week 5. Solids. Dr. suggested 2 shakes, 1-2 Snacks, and 2 meals. Meals consisting of 4 oz total. 2 oz Protein, 1oz vegs. and 1 oz carbs (optional).

That's super useful - thank you! I'm just over 2 weeks and well into pureed phase.

JoyLilith I can drink Water pretty quickly too, and have been able to since day 2 or 3 after the surgery. 30 minutes for a Protein Shake or smoothie sounds perfect to me.

[TheRealPennyD 12]

Thanks for this. I have been struggling because my nutritionist says to drink 1 oz over 15 minutes... That means I get in 4oz an hour which makes it impossible to get in my Water goals. (That's just 48oz in 12 hours) It's ridiculous. I'm starting to get dehydrated following this plan. It would only work if I got very little sleep or literally did nothing in my day but sip water.

I set a timer but I'm doing 1.5 oz every 10 minutes today because rest and hydration are more important than pacing out water. So glad I see how all of you are doing.

[vikingbeast 987]

2 hours ago, TheRealPennyD said:

Thanks for this. I have been struggling because my nutritionist says to drink 1 oz over 15 minutes... That means I get in 4oz an hour which makes it impossible to get in my Water goals. (That's just 48oz in 12 hours) It's ridiculous. I'm starting to get dehydrated following this plan. It would only work if I got very little sleep or literally did nothing in my day but sip Water.

I set a timer but I'm doing 1.5 oz every 10 minutes today because rest and hydration are more important than pacing out water. So glad I see how all of you are doing.

The 1 oz. over 15 minutes is really just for right after surgery. As your stomach heals you can drink more. I am almost 3 months out and I can drink an entire 500 ml bottle of water in 10 minutes.

[TheRealPennyD 12]

6 hours ago, vikingbeast said:

The 1 oz. over 15 minutes is really just for right after surgery. As your stomach heals you can drink more. I am almost 3 months out and I can drink an entire 500 ml bottle of Water in 10 minutes.

My dietician has me pacing the water for a month or more, which is the time period OP mentioned. She even says during the puree stage to get 3L of water every day but at 1 oz over 15 minutes... That boils down to getting 3L over 25 hours/day. 🙄 So obviously she didn't figure it out right. I'm 6 days post op and drinking relatively fine with very minimal pain (there's pain even if I take tiny tiny sips). Hope there's not a downside to it.