3 weeks out, and I can eat almost anything

[southernmom]

I was told to consider your new stomach as a penthouse in Manhattan. - Very limited and expensive real estate. Only fill it with quality things, and it will retain its value. (protein and veggies) If you start filling it with junk, it will lose its value. I didn't eat bread for six months, and since then, I only occasionally eat high fiber, low carb bread. I am very aware that in order to stay healthy I always have protein and veggies first. If I have room, I may have a bite of a complex carb at the end of my meal. Could I fill up on pasta, chips, etc? Absolutely! But why would I even want to after going through all of this? Before the surgery, this lifestyle would have been hard for me to maintain, but once I decided to purchase my "penthouse", I've stuck to it. I've got too much invested to let it lose its value!

[Ann2]

southernmom, that's exactly how I feel about my sleeve. Great metaphor -- "expensive Manhattan penthouse." LOL!

[PokerGuy]

THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. Food going down is not the problem. There was another member on this board (Or b-pal) that her sister had the sleeve and felt she could eat anything right away as well. So, within a month she ate ribs and beans. Her stomach ruptured and she passed away from not following the plan. You must follow your doctors timeline for eating foods. The only time to deviate from that is if you body tells you that you are not ready for the next stage. Then slow down.. NEVER jump forward.

PG

[sraebaer]

How exactly am I blowing it? Give me a specific answer.

Specifically you are told what to eat at what stage. I know I was on liquids for weeks 1 and 2, pureed foods for week 3, and then different foods were added until 6 weeks when I was cleared for all foods. I feel you are blowing it because your stomach is healing and something like a taco shell could get stuck in the stitches/staples in your stomach and cause an infection. (Not to mention it has no nutrition.) But you're a grown person, so do what you think is right. I, personally, followed all the rules so I didn't end up back in the hospital.

Did you get this information from your surgeon/nutritionist? How much protein you should be eating/drinking?

I'm worried that if you are making up your own rules at such an early point, what will happen long term?

[darkwombat]

Specifically you are told what to eat at what stage. I know I was on liquids for weeks 1 and 2, pureed foods for week 3, and then different foods were added until 6 weeks when I was cleared for all foods. I feel you are blowing it because your stomach is healing and something like a taco shell could get stuck in the stitches/staples in your stomach and cause an infection. (Not to mention it has no nutrition.) But you're a grown person, so do what you think is right. I, personally, followed all the rules so I didn't end up back in the hospital.

Did you get this information from your surgeon/nutritionist? How much protein you should be eating/drinking?

I'm worried that if you are making up your own rules at such an early point, what will happen long term?

PART of a taco shell, chewed up until it was as soft as can be. People act like I swallowed a whole taco, barely chewed, and shell is ripping up my organs!

I am still eating soft foods.

[sraebaer]

PART of a taco shell, chewed up until it was as soft as can be. People act like I swallowed a whole taco, barely chewed, and shell is ripping up my organs!

I am still eating soft foods.

Then I'm sure you'll be fine! Good luck!

[ImMelting]

Hi, I did the same thing, but it was more condensed protein that I tried earlier then "schedule" was indicating. I was starving on the soft food and felt weak and malnourished, so I made an executive decision to eat soft cooked meat at 3 weeks. It did irritate my stomach, which scared me and I talked to my Dr. and I went back to soft puree for a few days until the irritation subsided. Then I re-introduced soft cooked meats again, I feel a lot better.

I think Tinman has exactly the right attitude, he helped me so much with his common sense. I quote him to myself to stay away from "crazy" rigid thinking in my approach to my new lifestyle.

[Ukshrinking]

Not a troll.

I was not bragging about anything and did not mean to come off that way. I am simply here to see if there are any dangers to this and could use some guidance from fellow sleevers.

I am going to go back to puree foods for another week. I have been smart about this. I have stayed away from all junk food like cookies, chips, ice cream, candy etc. All that has happened is that I am eating some things a couple weeks before I should. Chicken and fish are things I will eat eventually, I just tried them too soon.

If there are any dangers? As if you didn't do any basic research about the fact your risking a leak not following your plan?. Eating something s couple weeks sooner is all it takes to create damage that you won't know about till it's too late.

[Ukshrinking]

On the site: alighterme DOT COM for week 4:

Eat foods of normal consistency – you no longer have to puree or blend your foods

So I am 2 days away from eating foods of a normal consistency. So I had soft chicken and tuna couple days early. TWO DAYS early. And I am blowing it?
I had ONE BITE of taco shell. How is that blowing it? I had two bites of pasta. I mean really?

One minute you had half a lean cuisine meal. The next it's two bites. Your mouth must be huge.

[darkwombat]

One minute you had half a lean cuisine meal. The next it's two bites. Your mouth must be huge.

Nice 3+ month bump. Pointless.

[Ukshrinking]

Nice 3+ month bump. Pointless.

I'm new here so didn't even notice but it still made me laugh how your story changed glad your still here to tell the tale.

[SteelerChick]

I'm 5 days post-op. Thank you for your post. Hearing your story and reading more experienced sleevers' comments helps. I'm thinking your program was not sufficiently explained to you. You knew something wasn't right because you posted here rather than stay on the path you were on. What I would do is have a one-on-one with my dietitian and discuss what I'm doing. You don't want to fail and no one wants to see you fail. Point is, you haven't completely failed YET so stop heading in that direction, make a u-turn and get back on track. I know you will. Best of luck.

[azladyrider]

PART of a taco shell, chewed up until it was as soft as can be. People act like I swallowed a whole taco, barely chewed, and shell is ripping up my organs!

I am still eating soft foods.

But you aren't still "eating soft foods" and now you're justifying things sorry.
I'll never forget a gal here about 4 years ago whining on and on saying (paraphrasing but pretty much the gist of her posts) "OH MY GOD (she was 3 weeks out), THE SLEEVE IS BROKEN, I just ate a steak and it made me throw up last nite and I had horrible shooting stomach pains and then I stopped eating and threw it all up so I waited till I stopped throwing up and ate the rest of the steak OMG this sleeve sucks and it's broken and isn't working....I was lied to about the sleeve." HOLY CRAP! REALLY? Everyone else poo-pooed "oh poor baby sorry you are feeling so bad" and I was sitting here just thinking are you freaking kidding here? When I came down on her finally (as another long term sleever did) he and I got lambasted as not being supportive LOL Why be supportive for someone who knows they are eating what they shouldn't and then blaming the sleeve for her bad choices?
I ate a few bites of very mushed up noodles about 5 or 6 days out too but it never caused me pain and I was just starving for something with some flavor.

As others said if you are eating even a part of a taco shell and it's causing you pain then well that's on you, sorry. It's not what you eat as much as it's causing pain.
I don't remember for sure since my surgery was June 2012 but I don't recall eating crunchy foods for nearly a year. I eat potato chips and chips and salsa now but if it felt like it was "ripping my organs" then I wouldn't do so.

[azladyrider]

THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. Food going down is not the problem. There was another member on this board (Or b-pal) that her sister had the sleeve and felt she could eat anything right away as well. So, within a month she ate ribs and beans. Her stomach ruptured and she passed away from not following the plan. You must follow your doctors timeline for eating foods. The only time to deviate from that is if you body tells you that you are not ready for the next stage. Then slow down.. NEVER jump forward.

PG

I actually find that hard to believe sorry. She had to have had other issues to cause a death.

[azladyrider]

Not a troll.

I was not bragging about anything and did not mean to come off that way. I am simply here to see if there are any dangers to this and could use some guidance from fellow sleevers.

I am going to go back to puree foods for another week. I have been smart about this. I have stayed away from all junk food like cookies, chips, ice cream, candy etc. All that has happened is that I am eating some things a couple weeks before I should. Chicken and fish are things I will eat eventually, I just tried them too soon.

You already know there are dangers ....