I am still on mushy/all liquid diet and I go to real foods on Thursday. Did y'all transition slowly to real foods and how? Or did you just start eating normal? I am a bit nervous as I haven't received my first fill yet (Sept 8th) and am getting increasingly hungry. I want to be careful not to have a free for all when Thursday comes!

What were your experiences like?

Well, the good news is that solid Protein will help you feel less hungry!

When I transitioned to mushy foods, I was told after 7 days to start adding in "real" food. Just use common sense, and pay close attention to your body .... don't eat too much. I kept on the Protein shakes for Breakfast (as much because of the convenience as anything else) but I started adding in fish then chicken, then on to beef and pork. Just cook it in a way that maintains the moistness.

One hint.....stay away from the expensive, DRY, tasteless boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Buy the breasts with the bone in and skin on. Cook it with the skin on but don't eat the skin. The skin protects the chicken from the broiler, etc. and helps to keep the meat moist. Same for the bones .... they add taste and moisture.

I did a mix. I ate real Protein -- purdue shortcuts chicken is really moist and precooked and bought ground turkey and mixed it with oats and baby food veggies (sweet potatoes and squash) to make a very moist and tasty meatloaf. My sides were still babyfood veggies (the other option was canned veggies and I HATE canned veggies) but I stepped it up to Stage 2 which has more options or mashed potatoes.

As of Thursday, I get to try seafood/shellfish and bread - toasted only. Then in another week, red meat.

I think I am going to continue on babyfood veggies, stepping it up a stage each week until the dr says I can have fresh or frozen veggies. I can buy organic babyfood and it tastes so much better and fresher than that canned crap and there is no preservatives.

Oh, I forgot, for variation, I would sometimes drizzle a little marinara sauce or curry sauce over my meat just so I wasn't eating the exact flavored meat every meal. It's amazing how long a jar of sauce lasts when you only use a tablespoon or two at a time.