Unsureness....

Hey all! So far, I've been doing very well and following everything the "bible" tells me to do post op. Well, here's the thing... does the unsureness ever go away? I'm unsure about so much! Like what to eat, how much, what times... I'm afraid to try much... I eat the same thing every day, because I don't want to do anything wrong. I'm on pureed until tuesday, and then i move onto soft foods.... I know there are some examples of what to eat in the guide, but.. if it was up to me, i'd eat only what was in there... and then I hear of people being out as far as I am making all kinds of crazy concoctions... I want that.. haha. I tried to look up recipes for soft foods even, and there's not much... does anyone have examples of what they ate at this stage? And will I get to a point where I can walk into a place, and order, or have what I want to eat, but in moderation? I know that will come with time, I just need to know that if I want a slice of pizza, I could have it... not the whole thing, but just some... or if I want fruit, I can have it in moderation... I need some "teacher's" advice!!!

Eventually, you will be okay with normal food. It took me a while before I could figure out what worked and what was not such a good idea. Example: School lunches at work. They always made me sick. I must pack my lunch for work. I honestly don't remember eating anything too exciting during the soft food stage. I just remember being thrilled when I could do normal food again. I now do get to eat out at restaurants with my son when he comes to town. I eat a small portion and then take a carry out container home with the leftovers. I enjoy their company more than anything. I will say that I thought I would miss diet Coke, but I honestly do not. I have had a few since surgery, but find them to be really uncomfortable. Water and diet iced tea are my drinks of choice. You are doing so well, and you are in the home stretch. Trial and error are how I learn what I can handle. I do not experiment with sugar, but do find that I sometimes make bad choices with fats, and then pay for it in the bathroom later. Keep up the good work. Hugs, Trish

Hi Mary Advice from a teacher : I promise - it will get so much easier to eat and your choices will increase. I did have my first small slice of pizza last week and I sure enjoyed each tiny bite of it. I have been trying many different things and lucky for me they all go down and stay there pretty well. I only have run into trouble when I eat too fast and don't chew enough. Of course, I do not eat things with more than 2 grams of sugar or lots of fat, but I am finding there is plenty to eat without that. As far as soft food, it pretty much was like the pureed only not as mushy. I ate egg salad, tuna salad , cottage cheese, ground beef, string cheese and still drank protein drinks. You're almost finished the whole beginning and it all gets better. As everyone says, even though you can eat some fruit, salad and veggies, it's important to eat the protein first. Arlene

Mary, hopefully I don't get slammed for this. Sounds like you are missing "life" or what you thought it was...which is food. First off, Arlene is right, there is plenty for you to eat within our guidelines; you just need to get creative. Secondly, this surg doesn't mean you'll never go through a drive through again, it just means you will learn what you can have at each establishment and that's it. Here's some samples of what will/are ok. Chili at Wendy's, 1/4 the meat off a cheesteak (blot any extra grease and you won't even finish that portion), crabcakes w/o breading in PAM or nuked, eventually a grilled chicken snacker at McD's or their Asian grilled chicken salad no dressing (it's juicy enough). Right now, you can take any lean cuisine manicotti, lasagna etc. and pulse it for italian. Again, you'll only eat a tiny bit anyway, maybe 3 meals to a lean cuisine but it's a different taste for you. Anything Phase 1 in South Beach Recipe books generally fall within our guidelines, you just have to mash them a little right now. As for fruit, you could get a little can of those mandarin oranges and put a couple w/cottage cheese or use the splenda strawberry or apricot spreads in your cottage cheese, mash some banana like a baby in SF banana pudding. You want to keep the protein up not replace it with that fruit. You are taking in so little right now it has to count! It will all be hit or miss and I'm thinking you'll try one thing and it will satisfy your mind (because you do realize this is head hunger, right? this is the psychological part kicking in already and you don't want it to take over because that demon's not quite in his place yet?) You will be able to branch out with your tastes but you are still very new. Take it easy. It will come. You are doing great!

Thanks for those food options.... they sound delicious... I'm not hungry really... just bored, and afraid to try anything new i guess is a good way to put it. I'm not very confident in my food choices outside of what's in the "bible". I really haven't felt hungry, or the urge for food, just to try something a little different is all