Can you eat whole wheat pasta, bread or any starch after VGS?

I am still trying to decide between the band and the sleeve. I am a carb person more than protein and I am a little worried about having to take in a lot of protein, but know I can do it with shakes. I just wondered about carbs like pasta or potato. With the sleeve, can you eat any bread or pasta at all? I know it can be whole wheat to get better health benefits, but I just wondered if you could have it at all. What about things like Morning Star Farms veggie burgers or bacon, are those things ok? 

 

Thank you!

Cheryl

I could not tolerate bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc. for many months post op. And I simply didn't have room for them because after eating my protein and little bit of veggies I was stuffed. I'm over two years out now and have been at goal about 17 months. I do eat bread and some other whole grains or starch (oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes and corn are some of my favs) daily. I don't often eat pasta and I think it gave me heartburn the last time I tried it. Flour tortillas sitll bother me too. I can eat one small corn tortilla, but I rarely do. 

Lynda

With the sleeve, you can eat anything and everything that you want. At 10 months out, I can eat whatever I want. So no worries there! You can have pizza, tacos, bread, pasta, potatoes.

That being said, I think you should weigh the health risks and benefits to decide which surgery to get, not what you can or can't eat later on. Trust that you will deal with it. For everyone, not just us, you have to know that potatoes and pasta are not good. Even "whole wheat" are just fillers and weight-gainers. And I'm not sure where you got the info, but we are encouraged to get off of protein shakes as soon as we can, as we transition to solid dense proteins which fill us up for longer periods of time. Maybe there's some more research you need to do before deciding. Or a shift in your goal from "I want to eat lots of starch and still lose weight" to "I want to eat what my body needs to function properly".

Why are you worried about taking "in a lot of protein"?

btw I first thought of the band too, until the surgeon mentioned how many he's removed because of problems and how he'd never reversed a sleeve or RNY.

 

The only reason I said I was worried about eating a lot of protein is because I dont eat it now. The protein I eat is from greek yogurt, low fat cheese, veggie burgers and chicken. I dont eat fish, meat, turkey or pork. So, it is often hard to find protein I like. I am trying to be realistic since I dont think I will suddenly want the things I wont eat now at some point after surgery. THanks for your input, I sincerely appreciate everyone's thoughts!

 

I had VSG 3 mts ago..I have eaten pasta and very thin crust pizza w/o incident..
I choose not to have these things anymore than occasionally b/c I'm focusing on my proteins...and although they didnt trigger me, I feel it's a slippery slope..

I'm a band to sleeve revision.  With the band I wasn't allowed to eat bread, pasta or rice. Those things were too gummy and would get stuck.  With the sleeve it's possible to eat that stuff but not usually recommended for optimum wt. loss.  Every doctor has their own plan.  Most find if you eat your dense protein first, there's not much room for anything else.  I personally could never recommend the band.  It's fraught with problems.

 

Kim

My nutritionist tells me I can eat certain whole-grain products prepared in a certain way in certain quantities ... but I won't.

I used to eat MorningStar Farms Original Grillers quite often in my first few postop months, but I don't eat them now since I can eat less-carby, more protein-dense foods.

IMVHO the other MorningStar Farms products I tried were horrendous and not worth the calories, carbs, or sleeve space.

I used to be a MAJOR carb person, but I toned it way down preop after my first surgeon consult and have not eaten anything like that since, except for the veggie burgers.  When I get to maintenance I plan to try things like beans again, but I won't trifle with rice or pasta or any of that stuff because they are trigger foods to me.  It could be really easy to convince myself that they are okay because they are whole-grain or whatever.  Just my POV.

If you can tolerate another opinion from me  :)  I personally decided against the band because of the complications I read about and because of the failure and regain info I saw.  Being sleeved has worked very well for me, but I am always mindful that, regardless of the surgery one has, one always, always has to put in the commitment to eating the correct foods and vitamins/supplements, drinking the required volume of fluids, and getting exercise. Failure to do that can bring disappointing results. 

You CAN eat carbs post-VSG. However, we are encouraged to eat our protein FIRST. The idea is to fill up on protein and then eat veg and carbs if you aren't full yet. I'm almost 6 weeks out and this is working really well for me so far. And I was (AM) a carb junkie!

I CAN eat whole grain breads, pasta etc, but I have chosen not to duriing weight loss.  To be honest I never thought it would be so easy to eliminate them from my diet.Carbs were my downfall preop.  Some do eat small amounts, but I choose to get my carbs from fruits, veggies, dairy and a tiny bit of grains.

I have been very happy with my weight loss and how I have felt through out.

For any WLS because of your small capacity it is essential to get protein first, and if room have your veggies and fruit

Anne

Stick with the list of foods that you can eat at first. Follow the progression that is given to you. It serves a purpose.  Eventually, you can have it all.  But will you want to? The key to maintaining weight loss is consistently choosing health over junk.