Oh - I miss FOOD!

I'm 7 days post-op, and have been doing great - no pain, drinking my meals - protein drinks, soup, pudding.  But the last day - it seems that I just miss food so much - I see it everywhere in the background on TV shows, commercials, etc. I don't want a lot - just a couple bites!!  I guess I was of the illusion that once I had my surgery - food would not even look good to me - but it still does.  I'm not 'hungry' and I don't have an urge to pig out - but - man just one piece of fish and tartar sauce sounds so good - I get fixated on it.  Or even some scrambled eggs with hot sauce.  Any recommendations?  I have 2 more days of liquid, then I go to puree foods - so it will be a while til I can have 'real food' it seems.  But I'm so tempted to have just one scrambled egg now.

And 'CAN' I have real food eventually?  I guess I've always had a problem with portion control and thought the sleeve will force me to address that (which even pre-op I was getting better with - learning to eat til satisfied, leaving food on my plate).  But now I'm worrying that I can't ever have even a piece of fish with tartar sauce. I'm sure it's the straight liquid diet that's making me mourn food - but I'm wondering if others have gone through this, and are now eating regular food, just less of it?

Well, it's all a big change and you're at the WTF stage!  YES!  You will be able to eat basically anything eventually and that's where all the skills come in. And that's really hard too. And I totally remember feeling exactly like you do!  All I wanted was Taco Bell. When I talked to the FNP/program director ay my surgeon's office, he suggested that I send mt partner out to get a taco, then dump all the stuff out and crunch the taco -- and then spit it out!  I did it, it helped A LOT getting rid of my craving and I didn't want to eat it!

good luck!  Keep posting -- we've all been there!

I felt that way too...I love watching foodnetwork, talk about torture lol! Before surgery I started clean eating and did pretty well. After surgery I craved everything I couldn't have...ugh! It's hard but it gets better. Hang in there! I just remember that by the end of puréed stage refried beans (healthy version) and cheese were yummy! I also made myself a scrambled egg topped with cheese but I couldn't finish the whole thing. It does get better, hang in there!

After liquids I moved to soft foods. I can have eggs. So an egg with hot sauce would not be out of the question. Do you have a list of things you are allowed on your next stage? If not this stage, the next you should be able to have an egg. Flaky white fish should be fine to. Just baked or pan fried (no breading and very very light oil). It wont be long before you can have these things.

I think most people go through this. I just started soft foods today and up until now I wanted to chew on something so bad! I wasn't hungry, just wanted to chew. You will get there and yes you will be able to have those foods again. I would just bake, sear or faux fry them. I found out that pork rinds are a great alternative to faux fry something. They have 0 carbs and add protein. Smash them up and roll your meat in them. Then throw them in the oven! Yum!

The first couple weeks after surgery I watched the cooking shows all day! I would fix dinner for my son and he would catch me staring at his food...lol drive him nuts.

Ohhh food TV is killing me too. And my other half has been torturing me with filet and salmon!!!! The smells are killing me. He just popped some popcorn and lucky for me he burnt it 

Yes i love taco bell too. And found that a crunchy taco only had 12 carbs...so it totally worked in my low carb pre-op diet. But am thrilled to have the surgery and i will get through this. I go back to work tomorrow so that will help the time go faster to my next food phase!

But thanks for the replies, i am very comforted to know the food cravings is just a phase that others have experienced and that real food (in much smaller quantities) IS in my future!