food plan unclear

 Hi, everyone!
I'm 11 days post-op and feeling pretty good. :) I saw my surgeon yesterday and he said I could move from liquids only to "baby food consistency", which, from the boards, sounds like the "mushy" stage. But, I'm sort of confused. He gave me a book before surgury with nutritional information "for lap-band and gastric sleeve patients", (I'm wondering if this is more for the lap-banders than the sleevers?) and it's different from what he is telling me in person. For instance, according to the booklet, I should have been on liquids for 3-4 weeks, not 10 days. Also, stage two is "a nutritionally balanced calorie-controlled diet". It says to avoid snacking, and have 3 high-protein meals a day with a goal of getting 60-80g protein per day. It does not give a calorie goal per day.

So, for the past few days, I've been eating only protein-super slowly, of course- but I'm having trouble with the avoiding snacking part, because I can have so little in my sleeve at a time. And, I'm not eating other stuff at all. Plus, I've been hungry.

I guess I just wanted to see what you guys were doing at 11 days out, what your plans are like, and what you think I should be eating these days. I'll be seeing my nutritionist soon, but in the meantime, any input out there?

At 11 days I'd just progressed to being allowed to mix my protein shakes with milk. There isn't a hope in the world at I could have managed my requirement of at least 70 grams of protein if I'd been trying to eat anything denser.

According to my surgeon's plan, Stage 2 is shakes mixed with milk, milk, soy milk, runny yogurt, jello, broth, puréed soup without meat. (he doesn't allow meat, fish or poultry until day 31) Most people add in runny apple sauce and pudding.

Your surgeon's "baby food" fits the description of a Stage 2 or "full fluids" stage, whi*****ludes anything without lumps that will pour from a spoon.

Stage 3 (Mushies) started at 21 days = everything in Full Fluids plus any food that will mound on a spoon - soft scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, mashed veg, baked beans, melty cheese.

I think I'd also have had trouble with the 3 meals bit. I'm to eat 5 very small meals each day. (3 meals, 2 snacks) I simply don't have the capacity for sufficient food to get my 70 grams of protein in 3 meals.

i am 2 days postop... still on liquids.. just added those protein soups the doc sells, along with .fudgessicle ( no sugar) , chicken broth, jello, tea, crystal lite, sherbert or sorbet., even de caff coffee ifi wanted ......that is what they brought  me in the hospital too about 5 little solo cups--.. said take my time sipping eve if it too****il the next meal to get it all down, most of the time i could not.
I am looking forward to the protein shakes in a few days.. i am used to them since i had  the lap band first.. and then was revised to sleeve after 2 years.. both times i got a printout of exactly what to eat and when...
days 10-14 you can have full liquids, yougurt, pudding, v-8, appple sauce, muscle  milk, and the like
day 14 is soft food like smothie king, cream of wheat, oatmeal; bananas- which you can add unjury unflavored protein to make them count toward the important protein.my doc said small "meals" throughtout the day are better.. but if not hungry don' t eat- but maintain fluids to avoid dehydration as  well as protein- which is easiest in protein shakes..
no solids for awhile later... you could call the Dr or surgery center and they cn probably send you a copy of the plan.. i can't have meat for some time....
i can fax it to you, or email it if you can't get one.. this is a must have..and it is pretty much the same for band, sleeves and gastric bypasses.. GOOD LUCK !

My surgeon had me on the mushy stage after day 10 as well.  That is where you are.  I will talk a bit about my plan so you have an idea of how to proceed since your doc isn't very clear on this.

While in weight loss you want to shoot for about 800 calories per day.  My nutritionist said to get between 75 and 90g protein per day as well as the 64 oz water.

That being said, I usually end up shy of the 800 calories and tend to get between 600 and 700 most days.  Since my doctor didn't give me a carb limit or a fat limit but said to go low carb and low fat I put myself on a best guess for this.  I shoot for 40 carbs per day as a max.  I use myfitnesspal.com to log every bite and watch after I add each meal what my totals are so that I know what my next meal should look like.  

For mushies my nutritionist has a definition.  Anything that can be mashed with a fork is good to go. I think my favorite thing was to take canned chicken and blend it up in my Ninja blender.  Walden Farms has a calorie, fat, carb free bbq sauce.  Actually two of them ... an original and a thick and spicy version.  So I blend that in as well for moisture.  After blending it I microwaved it and had bbq chicken in pretty much a semi-pureed state.  Walden Farms also makes a creamy bacon ranch calorie, fat, and carb free dressing.  You can blend chicken or tuna with this for a creamier choice.

This should help you get started.  If you have any questions I will be more than happy to chat more on this.  My nutritionist gave me a very well laid out plan all on paper with examples of what to eat and what not to eat and I timeframe for the whole thing up through getting back on full solids that are basically unrestricted with exception of low carb and low fat.  Keeping in mind also that you have a daily calorie limit.  

Once you reach your weight loss goal .. then calorie limit is raised to something like 1000-1200 per day.  Obviously those numbers can be tweaked as per activity level.  

The best thing you can do if you haven't yet done so is get on myfitnesspal.com.  Get some friends on there as well.  You will be able to see their daily menu and they can watch yours. 

My booklet says for VSG ...

2 weeks on Full Liquids (protein drinks like 2 a day, water...all liquids...cream soup..broth....but no chunks)...

2 Weeks on Puree (babyfood) focus on protein still...and still use protein shakes to get your 80grams of protein.
 
Puree: banana is soft enough, thinnned rice cereal, fruit puree but no skin, veggie puree but overcooked..and normally canned.

@ 1 month you begin regular foods super slowly, super chewed and one at a time.
IF IT HURTS then stop. Go back to Puree until you can handle regular textures. Also...making sure things are VERY moist helps to get down...and not get stuck :)

Every plan is different- if your plan calls for mushies, then go for it. A written plan is one thing, but you saw your surgeon, talked to him, and he said transition. Your surgeon wouldn't advance you if he thought it was going to hurt you. my surgeon is highly qualified and highly skilled- everyone in the hospital held him in high regard and one of the nurses told me that every nurse she knew of who had wls had used him. He also has a much different post-op plan than most. I never had a post op clear liquid stage. after my leak test I went straight to full liquid- the hospital served me pudding, soup, yogurt, even grits. I stayed on that until my first post op visit at day 8. At that visit he moved me straight to soft foods, saying that I was smart enough to know what didn't agree with me. So far, ground beef is the ONLY food that hasn't worked. At my next visit, 2 weeks later, I was cleared for everything. So at not quit a month out, I an eating real food and doing just fine. Trust your surgeon, and you'll do just fine too!

We had surgery the same day. I had my post-op appointment on Wednesday, so about 10 days post-op. I left the hospital on full liquids -- cream soups, protein shakes, yogurt, pudding, cream of wheat, and the like.

At my post-op appointment, my nutritionist moved me to pureed foods. She also said I could change my vitamins to regular, not chewables, if I wanted. Of course, I bought so many chewables, I'm finishing those suckers! Pureeds includes veggies I can smash with a fork, any meats blended to applesauce consistency, egg white scramble, canned chicken or tuna mashed, no peas or corn (things with a hull), plus all the things I could already eat.

My nut also said I should move to soft foods on September 5, so two weeks after beginning mushies. Soft foods are anything I can cut with a fork.

All this said, my doctor's notebook with all the info in it says 2 weeks of full liquids followed by two weeks of pureeds. He even said at my appointment that they go very heavy-handed in the notebook materials because some people just don't get it/understand the very slow method of intake unless it's spelled out in writing that way.

When I asked him why it's been so easy for me to drink my liquids and manage my intake, he said that since I had a LapBand first, I'm probably having an easier time with this post-op eating. The stomach opening with a Band is pinched so tiny that everything has to be blender-consistency to have a hope of going down! (With the Sleeve, we have a regular-size stomach opening.)

 Thanks for all of the input, everyone! I feel a little bit more confident in how to approach food now! Bon appetit to all of you, and to me, too!!!