Stock Up - Grocery List Before Surgery

I'm so excited! My surgery date is now October 11th!  Just 10 more days left.  I will be flying from Denver to Oklahoma to have my sleeve done. Will be staying there for 7 days before returning home.

Since I won't have time to go shopping when i get back home, I'm making a trip to Costco tomorrow to stock up on all the quick liquid foods I can eat for my first 2 weeks back home. (In addition to the bariatric shakes.)

Does anyone have any suggestions?  Here is my inital list:

- Sugar Free Gatorade
- Sugar Free Popsicles
- Applesauce
- Canned Soup
- Yogurt smoothies
- Baby Food??? (i'm not sure about this one.) 
- Atkins Advantadge Shakes (Are these good?)

Thanks!

 Go to Costco and get Premiere Nutrition shakes. They're cheap and low-carb. Atkins shakes are great, but very pricey.

Handi-Snaks makes Sugar Free pudding cups that are dirt cheap, so stock up on those. Also, plenty of SF Jello should be on the list. If you're getting yogurt smoothies, try and find the sugar free ones so you can get a running start on your weightloss. 


-Eggs (cook them soft and runny)
-CarbSmart Ice Cream (a real lifesaver!)
-Skim Milk

It depends on your surgeon's plan.  For the first two weeks, I'm only allowed liquids thin enough to be sipped through a stirrer straw (don't have to actually drink them that way, but that is how we are told to visualize the appropriate consistency).   So jello and yogurt are out for me until the puree stage.  

What has been essential for me that I don't see on your list is crystal light (or its generic equivalent) - that stuff has kept me going.  I bought a bunch of different flavor packets of the walmart and target brand.  

Also:
tea bags - decaf only if your plan eliminates caffeine.  I have black, chai, and green tea.   Love it with splenda and milk in the AM

sugar free hot chocolate - my bariatric pantry (a website) has some hot chocolate that has 15 g of protein/serving.  It is expensive, but I bought a box, and I am very happy that I did.  But SF hot chocolate is a nice treat before bed.

I wouldn't go out and buy a bunch of one kind of protein shakes yet, because what you like after surgery could change.   A bunch of different websites sell sample sizes of the different drinks.  I'd buy those to start with, including some samples of unflavored protein because it is good to add to soups and the such.  Some links for you:

My Bariatric Pantry Samples (I like the Nectar sample pack myself)

Vitalady (sells sample sizes for $1.99 each of a wide variety of powders)

Watch on the yogurt smoothies because many of them are high carb low protein - the opposite of what we want.

If you are allowed yogurt soon after surgery, get the greek kind, with some sugar free syrups or some sugar free pudding powder to flavor it with.  I found the SF syrups (Torani or DaVinci are the brand names) at World Market, but it looks like the cheapest way to get them online and find the widest variety, factoring in shipping costs, is to go to the DaVinci website and order them.

Also, you can make protein pudding by adding protein powder to SS FF instant pudding mix, so pick up some of that if that sounds interesting.

Hope this helps!

Don't over-buy.  I seriously overestimated how much I was going to be able to eat when I did my pre-surgery shopping.   I could easily drink all the water or thin broth that I wanted, but I didn't have much of an appetite and was very satisfied by protein drinks and some creamy soups (2-3 ounces).  I do love the Unjury chicken soup flavor because I get sick of sweet.  I still have most of the things I bought (like applesauce) sitting around, uneaten.

Have a few things (esp protein and drink) for your first couple of days, then go shopping.  It's a nice way to walk around.

Chewable GasX.  I read many posts about this but never actually tried it until a few months post op.  It is a life saver(or at least feels like it) when you eat/drink one bite too much or get distracted and drink too fast.  One little chewable and the pain that makes you wish you had died is magically gone. Eating/drinking will be a learning process and for some of us a little extra help is required.

Gas-X is a lifesaver! They domake it in strips that disolve on the tongue too!

Good luck with your surgery!!! I wasnt allowed to have applesauce for I think a good 2 weeks post op... I am thinking the same thing about yogurt. I lived on SF Jello and strained chicken soup. My tastes completely changed post op, and had I stocked up on protein shakes before the surgery, they would have all gone to waste.

 The Weight Wise program doesn't allow applesauce in the first two weeks after surgery.  Nor does it allow pudding or baby food.  Instead of gatorate, they want you to drink powerade zero or smar****er.

Who is your nutritionist?  The packet of information they gave you outlines what you can/should have for the first two weeks.

Honestly, I wouldn't buy a lot of stuff.  Your tastes can change, and you may be spending a lot of money that you can't get back.

I only could have clear liquids for the first week after I got out of the hospital.  I would warm up a can of Campbells Chicken Noodle soup and pour the broth into a mug and drink that.  I ate regular popsicles and jello (not the sugar-free kind.)  I don't like anything with the least little bit of artificial sweetener taste.  But considering that it was really my only source of calories, I needed it.  Or else I wouldn't have had any energy at all.  After I could have full liquids I would drink the Slimfast Cans.  I tried making a few different powdered protein shakes, but they were so gross I couldn't drink them.  I mean they literally made me gag.  Since I've been on real food I barely ever do a Slimfast can, just sometimes if I'm in a hurry I run into the convenience store for one.

 Thank you Everyone! This is great advice.  Since I'm out of state, I don't meet with the nutrionist until I fly in on Monday, so I appreciate this.