I am struggling with the post op fluid stage!

I am not surviving on soups and juices!

Does anyone have any ideas, suggestions, reciepes that they used for the fluid stage?

Would be greatly appreciated :blushing:

Check out the recipe section of this board. There are a bunch of things suggested for the liquid stage.

What are you drinking? Are you on clear or full liquids? I'm good now that I'm on the full liquid stage but I thought I would die on the Clear Liquids.

Clear liquids I drank,

bullion...chicken and beef

1/2 Water 1/2 juice (Apple, grape, peach/mango, and cranberry)

Green tea with honey

Jello

Jello

Jello

Fully Liquid

Yellow squash Soup

Tomato bisque

Jello

decaf coffee with half and half

V8

Protein shakes

I feel ok on the full liquid diet...although I'm already looking forward to the puree/mushy stage on Wednesday.

You will have to pulverize/blend these soups to meet the requirements of your doctor's thickness but these helped me when I waiting to get a partial unfill because I was too tight. The extra Protein in tofu seemed to help me stay fuller longer.

Okay for the soup recipies:

Soup recipes

Roasted Tomato with Roasted Garlic

This recipe yielded about 1 cup.

Ingredients:

½ container of grape tomatoes

4-6 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired)

4 oz of silken tofu

2 TBSP of fresh basil (2-3 tsp of dried basil)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Peal the garlic and wrap in a small piece of aluminum foil.

2. Place the tomatoes on a cookie sheet and spray with PAM, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Put the tomatoes and garlic in a 350 degree oven until done.

a. Tomatoes will burst and shrivel a bit

b. Garlic will be soft and mash easily with a fork

c. Tomatoes will probably finish before the garlic

4. Place the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor (or blender)

5. Add the tofu and blend until almost smooth.

6. Heat through and add the finely chopped basil at the end.

7. Simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors blend.

8. If necessary thin out with FF evaporated milk.

Grilled Asparagus Soup

Ingredients:

¼ pound or more of asparagus

2-3 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired)

4 oz of silken tofu

¼ small onion (more or less depending on taste)

¼ -1/3 cup of LF shredded cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Either boil grill on BBQ (much better!) the asparagus until just undercooked.

a. To grill on BBQ spray with PAM and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in aluminum foil if you do not have a flat grill on BBQ.

2. Sautee garlic, onions and cooked asparagus

3. Place veggies in a food processor (or blender)

4. Add the tofu and blend until smooth.

5. Add FF evaporated milk until correct texture.

6. Heat to desired temperature

Sautéed Mushroom and Tuna Soup

(This was my way of eating tuna noodle casserole…soup style!)

Ingredients:

½ pound or more of mushrooms (any kind will work)

2-3 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired)

4 oz of silken tofu or white Beans

¼ small onion (more or less depending on taste)

1 can of tuna fish

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Sautee mushrooms, garlic and onions until desired texture.

2. Add to food processor or blender.

3. Add 4oz of silken tofu or ½ can of white beans (depending on your taste!)

4. Add drained tuna fish (or any other canned fish)

5. Puree to desired texture.

6. Heat and add FF evaporated milk to thin if needed

So as you can see, the base for these soups is pretty much the same. If you don’t like tofu I would assume that white canned beans would work just as well. Experiment with different spices, add a little parmesan cheese, or different veggies. Right now you shouldn’t be worrying as much about calories, but rather about healing. If you would like add meat to any of these it would work just fine. Ground chicken, hamburger, and ground turkey all pulverize very well. You will most likely just have to thin it out with the FF evaporated milk. That one ingredient has changed my way of cooking. Once you graduate to real foods you can have chicken Alfredo for VERY few calories by using this one ingredient.

Another soup that has good flavor is to just take some refried beans and beef stock. It has a lot of flavor and a lot of protein to keep you fuller longer. Also take some spaghetti sauce and add some pulverized veggies to it and it makes it better. Adding some pureed white beans also helps it feel like more food.

i am on fluids...

the thickness i am aloud was described as anything that can fit up a mcdonalds size straw. so it is relativly thick compared to clear fluids.

i am on this diet for 3 weeks, then move to a mushy diet for another 3 weeks before i have my first fill and i move onto solids.

i am so sick of soups and shakes already! i have no idea how im going to do this for another 2 weeks! ahhh!

i am on fluids...

the thickness i am aloud was described as anything that can fit up a mcdonalds size straw. so it is relativly thick compared to clear fluids.

i am on this diet for 3 weeks, then move to a mushy diet for another 3 weeks before i have my first fill and i move onto solids.

i am so sick of soups and shakes already! i have no idea how im going to do this for another 2 weeks! ahhh!

I know it is tough, but almost all of us have been through it and it is in your best interest to stick to this. The only real advice that I can give you is to take it 1 day at a time. Don't look at it that you have to do 2 more weeks. Make it through today. The soup recipes I gave you are pretty filling. If you want to chew something, try ice chips...if your teeth can handle them! Even make flavored ones using crystal light or juice. You can have cream of wheat if you thin it out with some milk or evaporated milk.

Another tip is to just get away from the food. Try not to think about it (harder said then done...I know...I have been there). Get out of the house and go for a walk, get a good book and just sip, sip, sip your water/juice, play a game on the computer, just do something that gets your brain off of food. Try and set a schedule for yourself for when you can "eat". Then the other times, try to find something else to do.

Hope some of these suggestions work. The discipline that you can show here will make you feel empowered. It truly does set you up for success. I always tell my students you never feel proud of yourself for doing something easy, but the pride you feel when you complete something that seems almost impossible is the greastest feeling in the world. Look at each day with the PRIDE you can have when you succeed one more time!

my post op regimen was clear liqs day of surg, plus 2 more, 4 days of full liqs, 7 days of soft foods, and then on the 16 day post op, i get to try real food. I have not been hungry on the clear liq diet, and started the full liq today, but I will stick to the 3 protein shakes a day, plus other fluids, I don't ever want to eat again! I read someone say in the chat room, how they can eat pasta, and wondering if anyone else could. My thought to that was.."ok, so you can eat pasta, but why in the hell would you?? It and other carbs is the very thing that got you into this mess in the first place." I don't ever plan to eat bread, pasta potatos, rice, starches again. I have dieted my whole life, and now went thru major surgery, including an unexpected hernia repair, for which causes additional pain, and I'll be darned if I have sufferered all of this for it to fail.

my post op regimen was clear liqs day of surg, plus 2 more, 4 days of full liqs, 7 days of soft foods, and then on the 16 day post op, i get to try real food. I have not been hungry on the clear liq diet, and started the full liq today, but I will stick to the 3 Protein shakes a day, plus other fluids, I don't ever want to eat again! I read someone say in the chat room, how they can eat Pasta, and wondering if anyone else could. My thought to that was.."ok, so you can eat pasta, but why in the hell would you?? It and other carbs is the very thing that got you into this mess in the first place." I don't ever plan to eat bread, pasta potatos, rice, starches again. I have dieted my whole life, and now went thru major surgery, including an unexpected hernia repair, for which causes additional pain, and I'll be darned if I have sufferered all of this for it to fail.

Believe me...you will want to eat again. You are going into this with a great attitude, but I don't want you to set yourself up for failure. As you can see from my ticker, I haven't done too bad for myself, and I did eat bread, pasta and pototoes...but not a whole lot of them. My doc was adament that you don't cut out a single food unless you don't like it OR you can't tolerate it. You will notice that I didn't mention that I ate rice...cause I can't. Not even unfilled. It is OK to have those things in moderation and my doc's opinion (as is mine from doing 2 years of atkins) is that when you completley cut out a food, you will ultimately end up binging on it. When I would make spaghetti for DH and I, I would have mostly sauce and meat with about 6-8 noodles. That little bit allowed me to NOT have cravings. This is what thin people do...the eat in moderation. They don't cut it out totally. Some of those foods do have good nutritional value. I didn't have luck with bread when I was filled but I can eat it now that I am unfilled, and I do...everyday. 2 pieces of Sara Lee light bread. That way I don't binge on breads if we go out to eat.

I do think you have a great attitude and that is phenomenal. The mental part is the hardest challenge in this journey. Good luck.