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My second week after Gastric Bypass Surgery – Pureed Diet

Second Week

Second WeekSo I made it through the first week after surgery with no problems at all. Now I was ready for week two and also the change of menu with the new items I can have on the pureed food part of my journey. I was very excited for a change, but how did I do with it? Well I am gonna tell you.

I have to explain again that every doctor has a different schedule of what foods they want you to eat and when. For me the Bariatric Pureed Foods start at Day 10 – 30. Pureed foods are smooth blended and have a consistency of Stage 2 Baby Foods.

Now if you read my post on My First Week after Surgery you will remember I cheated and jumped ahead a couple days and started eating Part Skim Ricotta Cheese. I do not recommend cheating like I did, even though I did not have any issues does not mean you will not.

Before I get into what I ate all week I have to share a couple of items that I purchased that I love and you may want to get as well. First I got myself some Nuby Baby Spoons
– I liked these because they were small in size and not rubbery on the end. OH and the bonus – they will change color when my food is too hot – lol. I decided to get baby spoons because it would make me eat smaller bites and it has worked !! Mind games !!!

The next item I got was a new water bottle. I wanted something I could take on the go and carry around the house. I ended up finding this really cool Quench Sports Bottle (could not find it online – sorry) at Walmart. It was perfect because it did not have a straw and the top flips open and when you drink it comes out very slow – perfect. It holds 24 ounces and I usually fill it with my Crystal Light and can drink one a day so far. I did find these Tupperware Quench Bottles that are similar and may work just like mine.

As you can see in the last photo I use little Dipping Cups to eat my pureed food out of. They hold less than 1/2 cup and I find them the perfect size and once again great for those mind games to feel as though you are eating a lot. You can buy them online or I found mine in Walmart for about $1.00 each.

I could not wait to get to the pureed part of this process – I was so sick of the liquids and the thought of any soups just turned my stomach. To think I was going to be able to eat different foods was so exciting even if they were pureed. I wanted food that had flavor because it almost seemed everything on the liquid part was sweet and I am a salt girl. So what was I going to try out first?

Here is what I ate so you can see each day for the second week:

(I am not gonna add the times on – just the order in which I ate)

January 31st (not really suppose to be on puree just yet- I cheated)

Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)

1/2 cupish Part Skim Ricotta Cheese

Protein Shake

1/2 cupish Part Skim Ricotta Cheese with a tsp. Tomato Sauce on top

1/2 cupish of Vanilla Cheery Ice Cream spitting out the Cherry Chunks

Now that I am typing this I guess I did not eat that much this day, but to me at the time I did. Funny how quick we change.

February 1st (Ok to start pureed foods – Whoops, my bad – lol)

Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)

Protein Shake

1/2 cupish Refried Beans with a sprinkle of low fat Cheddar Cheese melted topped with some Low Fat Sour Cream

1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge

1/2 cupish Fresh Cauliflower (pureed) made into faux mashed potatoes

1 SF Ice Pop

OMG the refried beans were to die for – although the cheese was a bit stringy (I will leave that off the next time). I also love Cauliflower so that was just as good as well. I made a whole head of Fresh Cauliflower mashed it up really good, added some Skim Milk, I cannot believe it is not Butter and Salt & Pepper to taste. I had a whole container to eat up for the rest of the week – YUM YUM YUM.

February 2nd

Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)

1/2 cupish Fresh Cauliflower (pureed) made into faux mashed potatoes

Protein Shake

Pureed Stir Fry

2 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedges

Ok so this night my hubby had cooked up a Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry with Rice a Roni Fried Rice for him and the kids. It smelt soooo good. So I decided I had to try some for myself. I took one piece of meat and then the broccoli and Rice and placed it into my Magic Bullet Blender and pureed it up. I thought the refried beans were good – this was like heaven. Some have trouble with rice – me Nope none at all.

February 3rd

Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)

Protein Shake

Egg Salad

1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge

Egg Salad

1/2 cupish Fresh Cauliflower (pureed) made into faux mashed potatoes

So today I tried Eggs and once again OMG so good. I took one egg mashed it up and added about a tsp of so of Low Fat Mayo and then a squirt of Gulden’s Mustard. I pureed it up in my Magic Bullet and it was beyond delish !! As you can see I had it twice. Major Protein meals !!!

February 4th

Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)

Protein Shake

Egg Salad

1/2 cupish Corned Beef Hash

1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge

1 Lit and Fit Vanilla Yogurt

1 SF Ice Pop

So I was doing some reading online to find other things that I could eat. I had read some were having Corned Beef Hash – the kind that comes in a can some call dog food. It just so happens I love that stuff. So I checked with my nutritionist to make sure it was ok to have being it is high on fat and they said yes as long as it is not a daily thing. So I cooked some up pureed it a tiny bit in my Magic Bullet and chowed down – with my baby spoon of course. I had no problems with this and it was soooo good.

February 5th

Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)

Protein Shake

Cup of Coffee with SF Coffemate Hazelnut Creamer – maybe 20 sips

1/2 cupsih Refried Beans with Low Fat Sour Cream

1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge

1/4 Cup Fresh Cauliflower (pureed) made into faux mashed potatoes

1/2 cupish Mashed Potatoes

1 SF Ice Pop

Today I tried some Mashed Potatoes – they were made from the box with Skim Milk, I cannot believe it is not Butter and Salt & Pepper to taste. I LOVE Mashed Potatoes and even though these were not my creamy buttery potatoes I am use to they were still yummers. I had no issues with them – me so happy !!!

I think my second week post op has gone great – to be honest with ya, I almost feel like I never had surgery. I have had no issues, but gas and that is nothing a Gas X cannot fix. I keep saying I have to be careful by saying that so much cause you never know, BUT as of right now there has been no dumping syndrome, no vomiting, no diarrhea or anything else for that matter. Call me lucky – I will take it !!

Now you see my photo in the upper left of Baby Food Jars – well prior to this stage my sister bought me some and I did as well thinking I will eat it. On Wednesday the 1st I opened a jar of the Chicken with Gravy and almost vomited by the smell of it. I was already a bit grossed out by the flesh color, but the smell was horrible. It was at that moment I declared myself a vegetarian through the pureed stage of this and I had extreme guilt that I ever fed that to my babies.

Obviously I did not last as a vegetarian with the Stir fry and the Corned Beef Hash. I refuse to eat pureed Baby Food Meat. I do have some Fruit and Vegetables, but have yet to be adventurous and open any of those – I am scared – lol

My mood has been a bit up and down, as well as my energy level. I am still waiting for that big boost of energy everyone talks about. I am not exhausted – maybe it is just a bit of depression. I have a lot going on in my life right now and it has been very hard to not go back to smoking. I would love a cigarette again, but I will not give in.

Yesterday I felt pretty crappy and down. I also had back pain which I get time and again. I just bummed around the house, watched TV and worked on the computer a bit – totally uneventful. I cannot wait until it is Spring and I can go outside – that will definitely help.

I encourage you to start your own journal. There are numerous benefits.

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My first week after Gastric Bypass Surgery

My first week after Gastric Bypass Surgery

My first week after Gastric Bypass SurgerySo now I am home from the hospital and on my own. You go to all the nutrition classes for months prior to the surgery, but yet all of a sudden your mind goes blank. You just want to get it right and not have any complications. I was so nervous, but ready – or was I?

I got home from the hospital on Wednesday January 25th at around 12:00pm and first on my agenda was to get a shower. It felt so good to be clean, but let me tell ya that sticky stuff from all those heart monitor leads and tape they used is a real bitch to get off. I got some of it off, but not all – I hate that.

Now every doctor has different rules and time frames when it comes to what you are to eat after your Gastric Bypass Surgery so be sure to follow the plan in place that was given to you. I am going share with you what my rules are and go from there.

Day 1 and 2 (which were in the hospital) is a Full Bariatric Liquid Diet – I had Broths, Decaf Tea and Sugar Free Jell-O those days – oh and a Sugar Free Italian Ice

Days 3 to 9 Bariatric Full Liquids – This is food that can pour off a spoon like soup. They should also supply protein and other nutrients too. You should be sent home with a list of things that your doctor says is allowed for you to have at each stage of your new diet. Protein Goal is 60 grams and they want you to try and get in 64 ounce of fluids.

I did not each much my first day home and I was still taking some pain meds which was Vicodin in liquid form (so gross). I am so not a fan of liquid medicine at all. One thing I did wrong on my first day home was to take my vitamins – yup – I had already screwed up. I totally forgot my doctor did not want me to start until I got to the pureed stage which is at day 10. Oops – no harm done hopefully.

I have documented everything I have eaten and the time I have had it in a notebook I keep in my kitchen. This is important to do for many reasons -1: So you can total your protein intake and 2: If you have a reaction to a food you can easily pinpoint what may have caused it and 3: it is a good thing to bring to your nutrition appointment to see if there is anything they would like to change. I also write down when I take my meds – I do not have a great memory so it really helps me a lot to do that too.

Here is what I ate so you can see each day for the first week:

(I am not gonna add the times on – just the order in which I ate)

January 25th (the day I came home)

1 Cup of Chicken Broth with a 1/2 scoop of unflavored protein powder mixed in

1 Sugar Free Jell-O

Got a headache – may be from the aspartame in the Jell-O – happened in the hospital too

Pain Meds

1 Cup Chicken Broth – only ate 1/2

Gas X – I had gas which is normal, but the Gas X is so helpful so have some on hand.

2 SF Fudge Pops – soooo good !!

I felt pretty good my first day home – just tired and still sore. I did a lot of pacing around the house to help move out any of the gas and it felt good to be up. If you are having this done remember to walk walk walk. I am telling ya it has helped me a lot. One thing that drove me nuts was that my new vacuum arrived this day. I had finally caved and bought a Dyson and there it was in a box and I was not allowed to touch it. See I have a vacuuming fetish – I love to vacuum and go through many each year. I have 8 pets in my home and I hate all the fur so I vacuum a lot. Yes once again I have issues – lol. I could not take it so I made hubby open it up and vacuum for me – it was nice he did so, but just not the same for me. Soon enough.

January 26th (My son’s birthday !!)

Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)

Pain Meds

Chocolate Protein Shake

Dulcolax – this is a stool softener which is a good thing to start taking after surgery to help in the – you know.

Liquid Tylenol – at this point I felt I was not needing the heavy pains meds anymore so hubby went and got me liquid tylenol to take

Strawberry Protein Shake – Only drank 1/2 – that flavor was making me nauseous

1 Cup Cream of Chicken Soup

Liquid Tylenol

1 SF Fudge Pop

1 SF Ice Pop

Gas X

I felt pretty good this day and woke up early in the morning to see the kids off to school. Also being it was my son’s 14th birthday I could not miss making him a fun breakfast that morning. So I made him some heart shaped pancakes with red food coloring and a side of sausage (Yup I am a cool mom like that). I was surprised that I had no problems doing it. I would do anything for my babies – although my baby is not a baby anymore – whaaaaaah !!

Later I also baked him his birthday cake which was a carrot cake – his favorite. Now that smelled really good and I had to be so careful not to lick my fingers when frosting it. It is little habits like that which can cause problems. Again I did great.

I was a bit gassy this day, but nothing some Gas X was not able to handle – oh lots of walking around the house.

January 27th

Crystal Light (drank over the course of the day)

Liquid Tylenol

Gas X

Went back to bed feeling sluggish today – ended up getting up then at about 10:30am

Chocolate Protein Shake

Dulcolax

Liquid Tylenol

1/4 Cup Cream of Rice (I added a tiny bit of I cannot believe it is not butter and salt) – was not crazy about this

1/2 Chocolate Protein Shake

Liquid Tylenol & Gas X

One thing I can remember from this day, because I wrote it in my food diary, is that my hubby had bought some of those roasted chickens they cook at the store for their dinner. Those are my favorite. When he was stripping the chicken off the bone the smell was unreal and it was the first time I was envious. I was so sick of soups and liquids already. So later in the day I walked past the chicken in the kitchen and guess what I did? Nope I did not eat any, but I took a piece and sucked on it for a quick moment to get the flavor and then spit it out. I cannot tell you how hard it was not to chew it up, but I didn’t.

January 28th

Chocolate Protein Shake

Crystal Light (drank over the course of the day)

2 tsp Part Skim Ricotta Cheese (this was a cheat – explained below)

2 SF Ice Pops

1/4 Cup Part Skim Ricotta Cheese (explained below)

1/2 Cup SF Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream (spit out the cherry chunks)

I took it easy this day – I was feeling kinda blah. Maybe it was the withdrawal from the heavy pain meds, not sure. I took a long hot shower and got dressed in real clothes and that helped a bit. I still had no additional motivation to do much of anything else – so I took a couch and TV day. I am finding it hard to get in my fluids and the thoughts of any soups at this point now just completely gross me out.

Now lets talk about my cheating – “The Ricotta Cheese”. No that is not a liquid is it? This is an item allowed on the pureed diet which comes at day 10 and technically I had 4 days till then. Well my dreams of being the Gastric Bypass poster child went right out the window – I broke the rules. I just had to have a different flavor in my mouth and let me tell you it was beyond amazing for me. I tried out 2 tsp first to see how I would handle it and then a couple hours later I had 1/4 cup. I did wake up at midnight that night needing some Gas X -could have been from that – who knows.

NOW let me say that I do not recommend you cheat like I did – your pouch is still healing at this point and I could have caused issues for myself. Thank god I did not. It really was good though. OK shame on me.

January 29th

Crystal Light (drank over the course of the day)

1/4 Cup Part Skim Ricotta Cheese (still cheating)

Chocolate Protein Shake

Gas X (from Ricotta Cheese ???)

1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge (cheat)

Lit and Fit Yogurt Vanilla (cheat)

Gas X before bed just in case

Ok so I had lots of cheats on this day. Seems like I just jumped to the pureed diet huh? Well That is because I kinda did. Guilt set in even though I was doing fine. I told myself I had to call my nutritionist tomorrow (Monday) to confess my sins. OH and guess what? I had my first Poop since surgery. I know gross why did I have to share that – well because to know your parts are working after this is a celebration I think. Hail the Poop !!! OH and this was also the day I decided to create this blog – hmmm Poop and Blog ???

January 30th (1 week since surgery – wow)

Crystal Light (drank over the course of the day)

Chocolate Protein Shake

1/4 Cup of Part Skim Ricotta Cheese (still cheating)

1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge (cheating again)

Cream of Asparagus Soup Strained – did not eat – soup grossed me out

Chocolate Protein Shake

Cup of Coffee with SF Coffemate Hazelnut Creamer – maybe 20 sips

Holy cow – I week post op – I made it !!! Woooo Hooooo. So I called my nutritionist today and confessed my sins. She said that she could not tell me it was Ok to do that and I should go back on the liquids until Wednesday. Really? At this point what was one day I thought. I have always been known to break the rules – so would I do it again? I was good after the call and tried to have cream soup – which grossed me out and then I had a protein shake. You will have to read my next post to see if I was able to control myself.

So overall I had a great first week after my Gastric Bypass – so much so that I have started to question if he really performed the surgery on me at all. I keep telling my husband that maybe I had a placebo surgery to see if it is really a mind thing.

My pain has never been truly pain at all – just soreness. I have had no reactions of feeling ill from anything I have eaten. The only thing I have gotten was gas in my tummy. Yes I have farted a lot this week, which I am sorry to say is nothing new for me since I had stomach issues prior to surgery. My poor family – lol. I made sure to walk around the house a lot which I think has made a difference. On the days I felt blah – I just chilled out.

I have been just fine around food and the family eating and I did tell them they are not to hide from eating around me. If I felt uncomfortable I would walk away. The good thing is that at the time I did the surgery my hubby and kids made some huge changes themselves. They are living a much healthier lifestyle with food as well. My hubby took over the cooking – bad snacks are no longer in the home and portions have been cut down. So everyone is adjusting to a new lifestyle which is fantastic.

I have felt myself shrinking and my face already looks thinner – I always lose it there first. Yes I have stepped on the scale, BUT I will only be posting my weights in the My Weigh Ins section on a weekly basis. At the end of each month I will put up photos taken at each week to see the changes.

I am beyond excited to melt away !!! Hope you continue to follow my story and watch too.

Stay Tuned for posts on Week 2, What I purchased prior to surgery, What Protein Shakes I drink, Vitamins I use and more…