Hi all!

This will be my first major holiday post op, so I will be seeing a lot of people I haven't seen since last year, I expect a lot of looks, and side eyes but hopefully a lot of positive comments as well! I plan on doing the Turkey Trot in my hometown (3k walk/run) with my family in the morning, then get my protein in first and share some of my fav sides and desserts with my kiddos. Going to enjoy the day and not stress so much and be mindful!

How are you tackling Thanksgiving this year?!

I'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner! I'm not stressing about it. I don't think it will be too much of an issue as the types of foods I will be making (traditional Thanksgiving staples) are the kinds of things I like but am not crazy about. My bigger concern for overindulgence is probably the charcuterie board I'm putting out earlier in the day, along with the candy I'll have in the candy dishes. In my case, I see my family frequently and they all know about the surgery, so it will just be a normal experience in that sense. I'm looking forward to cold leftover turkey! Even though there will only be 8 of us and probably 3 people who will barely touch the turkey, I ordered the bigger one (16-24lb range) because I want leftovers for my lunches.

My hubby does all the cooking. I plan to prioritize turkey, then 1 standard spoonful of mashed potatoes (the big spoons, not the small ones), 1 spoonful of stuffing, homemade gravy on all of it, as well as 1 spoonful of cheesy peas, 1 spoonful of homemade cranberry sauce, 2 spoonfuls of broccoli and cauliflower gratin, and 2 spoonfuls of roasted brussel sprouts w/ bacon and parmesan. I know it seems like such a small amount, but I want to have a little of everything. I'm not having any rolls, tho. And I will (eventually) have a slice of no sugar added pumpkin pie with sugar free whipped cream. I'm REALLY excited. I LOVE Thanksgiving!!!

48 minutes ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

My hubby does all the cooking. I plan to prioritize turkey, then 1 standard spoonful of mashed potatoes (the big spoons, not the small ones), 1 spoonful of stuffing, homemade gravy on all of it, as well as 1 spoonful of cheesy peas, 1 spoonful of homemade cranberry sauce, 2 spoonfuls of broccoli and cauliflower gratin, and 2 spoonfuls of roasted brussel sprouts w/ bacon and parmesan. I know it seems like such a small amount, but I want to have a little of everything. I'm not having any rolls, tho. And I will (eventually) have a slice of no sugar added pumpkin pie with sugar free whipped cream. I'm REALLY excited. I LOVE Thanksgiving!!!

that actually sounds like the perfect amount of food! you get your taste of everything and satisfy those taste buds. I love thanksgiving and all the foods! so I will be following suit and doing spoonful's of my fav foods!

This year, I'm going home for Thanksgiving. It's the first time I've been back in 20 years. I have some family members who don't know/approve of surgery so it's going to be a bit tough, but I will try and treat like a normal, get protein in first, then veg, then carbs. and no snacks in between.

11 hours ago, NeonRaven8919 said:

This year, I'm going home for Thanksgiving. It's the first time I've been back in 20 years. I have some family members who don't know/approve of surgery so it's going to be a bit tough, but I will try and treat like a normal, get Protein in first, then veg, then carbs. and no Snacks in between.

I had some ladies in a group I belong to that are in weight watchers who sorta turned their nose up at first mention of weight loss surgery. I took it as a challenge to educate them. In all fairness they get to see me each week and hear about my nutrition and activity choices but I’m pretty sure they now realize they didn’t have all the facts before and recently started being some of my biggest cheerleaders. I guess you won’t be afforded the time to change their minds about it this one visit but maybe it will help some to know that their ignorance is most likely just lack of education and that upon seeing how hard you work at it, they may change their perspective eventually as well

I’m going to eat a little of everything. I am just going I pay for it for like a week because when I do carbs my body craves carbs. Just have to pay the price I guess.

1 hour ago, ShoppGirl said:

I had some ladies in a group I belong to that are in weight watchers who sorta turned their nose up at first mention of weight loss surgery. I took it as a challenge to educate them. In all fairness they get to see me each week and hear about my nutrition and activity choices but I’m pretty sure they now realize they didn’t have all the facts before and recently started being some of my biggest cheerleaders. I guess you won’t be afforded the time to change their minds about it this one visit but maybe it will help some to know that their ignorance is most likely just lack of education and that upon seeing how hard you work at it, they may change their perspective eventually as well

a lot of people think that we just lose weight because of the surgery and we don't make any of those changes. Now some don't and just rely on the surgery. I know for me, those around me have seen me put in the work, with the foods I eat, the exercise, and the overall change in lifestyle. Also, some are just jealous they aren't able to do the surgery.

Hello I had my surgery on the 20th my meal plan for thanksgiving is a 7oz puréed thanksgiving meal a single mashed sweet potato(not all of it),1/4th cup of a berry cobbler filling and some chicken salad puréed. Will have the same exact meals the next day and the day after…. My loving dad bought 7 of those boxed puréed dinners. Go me!

4 hours ago, Elizabeth Miller said:

Hello I had my surgery on the 20th my meal plan for thanksgiving is a 7oz puréed thanksgiving meal a single mashed sweet potato(not all of it),1/4th cup of a berry cobbler filling and some chicken salad puréed. Will have the same exact meals the next day and the day after…. My loving dad bought 7 of those boxed puréed dinners. Go me!

Just Double check your teams plan. That is WAY more food than I was allowed volume wise. I think I was doing like 1-2 oz a meal when I was first on puree and I don’t recall even being on puree that early out. (Some plans to vary) Just be sure to take it really slow and make sure you don’t overdo it. Too much at once volume wise could make you feel very sick but even worse it could injure your healing insides. There is always next Thanksgiving. Or have the variety you want, just spread it over a few days instead of having that all in one meal.

10 hours ago, Elizabeth Miller said:

Hello I had my surgery on the 20th my meal plan for thanksgiving is a 7oz puréed thanksgiving meal a single mashed sweet potato(not all of it),1/4th cup of a berry cobbler filling and some chicken salad puréed. Will have the same exact meals the next day and the day after…. My loving dad bought 7 of those boxed puréed dinners. Go me!

This reminds me of the year I got my wisdom teeth out right before Thanksgiving and all I could eat was mashed potatoes that year. ?

I think someone has already said this, but because with volume because that does sound like a lot. I would also probably skip the cobbler filling because its more than likely has a lot of sugar, which they don't recommend so soon after surgery, and I had to be careful of berries that soon after.

At 7/8 days, I was only drinking water, protein drinks and soups/broths.

8 hours ago, Chatterboxdea said:

because its more than likely has a lot of sugar, which they

It’s home made with filtered pulp for me and it’s only stevia. It turned out quite nice. I just got moved to puréed food today at my one week post op vist and am doing fine with eating 1/4th cup of chicken salad finely shredded and then really well chewed. Sits heavy though.

21 hours ago, Elizabeth Miller said:

Hello I had my surgery on the 20th my meal plan for thanksgiving is a 7oz puréed thanksgiving meal a single mashed sweet potato(not all of it),1/4th cup of a berry cobbler filling and some chicken salad puréed. Will have the same exact meals the next day and the day after…. My loving dad bought 7 of those boxed puréed dinners. Go me!

Yes, plans can be quite different but I agree with @ShoppGirl’s suggestion to check with your team. I was told 1/4 - 1/3 cup for a meal from purée increasing slowly to a cup of food by the 6 month mark. 7ozs pureed turkey dinner coupled with the sweet potato & cobbler & you’ve way exceeded my 6 month portion recommendation.

And to add to her warning also, a lot of nerves were cut and or damaged during the surgery so messages like being full/had enough or eaten too much at going to get through or will be distorted. It’s why sticking to portion size recommendations are very important: to ensure you don’t damage your digestive system or impact your healing and recovery. It takes 6-8 weeks to fully heal.

8 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Yes, plans can be quite different but I agree with @ShoppGirl’s suggestion to check with your team. I was told 1/4 - 1/3 cup for a meal from purée increasing slowly to a cup of food by the 6 month mark. 7ozs pureed turkey dinner coupled with the sweet potato & cobbler & you’ve way exceeded my 6 month portion recommendation.

And to add to her warning also, a lot of nerves were cut and or damaged during the surgery so messages like being full/had enough or eaten too much at going to get through or will be distorted. It’s why sticking to portion size recommendations are very important: to ensure you don’t damage your digestive system or impact your healing and recovery. It takes 6-8 weeks to fully heal.

I agree with sticking to the portions you are permitted by your team. . I had a sleeve in 2021 and then revised to SADI recently and because they didn’t operate on my stomach this was particularly hard. It wasn’t that I was physically hungry and wanted more. It was just that my brain couldn’t get past how tiny the portions looked because my stomach was never operated on for the revision and it did not feel full. Probably Similar to what yours may feel now without everything healed quite yet but just because it doesn’t immediately hurt doesn’t mean it is not hurting your healing insides. We don’t want any Emergency Surgeries on Thanksgiving for sure. ❤️

Edited November 28, 20241 yr by ShoppGirl

16 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Yes, plans can be quite different but I agree with @ShoppGirl’s suggestion to check with your team. I was told 1/4 - 1/3 cup for a meal from purée increasing slowly to a cup of food by the 6 month mark. 7ozs pureed turkey dinner coupled with the sweet potato & cobbler & you’ve way exceeded my 6 month portion recommendation.

And to add to her warning also, a lot of nerves were cut and or damaged during the surgery so messages like being full/had enough or eaten too much at going to get through or will be distorted. It’s why sticking to portion size recommendations are very important: to ensure you don’t damage your digestive system or impact your healing and recovery. It takes 6-8 weeks to fully heal.

I didn’t eat it in all one sitting but through out the day. I’ve been having hunger issues. I still have 5oz of the dinner left. I didn’t say I was portioning the puree out because I got lazy to type it all.

7 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

I agree with sticking to the portions you are permitted by your team. . I had a sleeve in 2021 and then revised to SADI recently and because they didn’t operate on my stomach this was particularly hard. It wasn’t that I was physically hungry and wanted more. It was just that my brain couldn’t get past how tiny the portions looked because my stomach was never operated on for the revision and it did not feel full. Probably Similar to what yours may feel now without everything healed quite yet but just because it doesn’t immediately hurt doesn’t mean it is not hurting your healing insides. We don’t want any Emergency Surgeries on Thanksgiving for sure. ❤️

Oh I get full on 1/4-1/2 cup of food some things hit me heavier and others hit real light.