When are you 100% normal again?

I vaguely remember the last time I made the salmon dip that I put more onion in - normal white onion as well as the shallots.

So maybe experiment a bit. It is so quick and easy to make, and so nice!!!

Applesauce that sounds divine.
What is it about Aussies and their beetroot? We love it don't we? I love it especially when I bother to cook it fresh and pickle it in vinegar. Yum.
I will try your dip, it sounds like an excellent sandwich spread to keep me happy until I get sleeved.

I will try yours too Caz. Love anything with tinned fish.
Thanks,

Janey

Deips are great as a base on cruskets to make the stuff you put on moist. the male of the species was so into those little tins of flavoured tuna.
A great dip is beetroot dip. Just a packet of cream cheese, you can use the low fat one if you like. A tin of beetroot drained and a bunch of chives. Reserve a few slices of beetroot and chop up roughly. the rest of the beetroot and the cream cheese go in the blender and get wized together. Then stir though the choped up remaining beetroot and diced up chives.
I know beetroot dip sounds odd but I am yet to find anybody who doesnt love it.


a very easy old fashioned dip is a jar of corn relish mixed though low fat cream cheese.

applesauce

Here you Jodi (and anyone else who would like a really easy, tasty thing to put on cruskits).

SALMON PATE

250g red salmon
90g butter
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used a bit more)
2 shallots cut into 5 cm lengths.

Drain salmon and remove bones.

Place salmon, butter, salt, pepper, lemon juice and shallots into a bowl, cover and wizz until ingredients are well combined - usually around 10 seconds. Place into a serving dish and chill.

Easy peasy!!!

Enjoy - I may add to the mushies page too.

Caz

Caz I was wondering how you went lookin for that salmon pate recipe also I love french onion dip and when I used to attend Easy Slim I was told I could make it using a tub of no fat natural yougurt and mixing in a small amount of french onion soup then letting it stand in the fridge for a while to plump up the dried onion bits and it really does taste quite a bit like french onion dip and its lovely and low fat and i have it on a couple of rice crackers I used to have it on carrot and celery sticks but Im not sure how id go with raw vegies at the moment x jodi

Hail the cruskits indeed.

I may take some for work tomorrow and see how I go.

When you are eating such little amounts of food having pate on a couple of cruskets just never seemed to be an inssue. My weight was dropping while I was eating it during the mushie stages. It is like eating full fat yoghurt it is a good idea to do that during the mushie stages. I was only able to get in 100grams or less at the time so it is healthier.

If the weight loss stops then you look at changing those things :)

applesauce

Pate isn't low in fat, but the amount you spread on a cruskit isn't an issue.

I've been using the little ones from the supermarket - pepper/chicken I think.

I actually have a really good recipe at home for a salmon pate made with tinned salmon that is yummy and healthy - I'll have to look for it. Interested?

I to have been having cruskits for my lunch sometimes but just with vegimite but I do love pate and would love to try this although I didnt think pate was very low in fat what sort do you recomend apple x jodi

I must admit I wish I had kahunalou's "problems" with fried food!!

"Unfortunately" I have no problems at all with chips... though the wonderful thing is I've learnt that I can so NOT binge on hot chips! Heck, I can only fit 7 of them in, and it is not worth the effort *smiling* I sooo love that!

Apple - In the last couple of days I have been eating beetroot and cruskits (though with cottage cheese) - and I agree, it certainly hits the spot, so thanks for the tip!

Sophia

I've just read this thread for the first time, and it's interesting what we all go through, isn't it, and how everyone's a bit different.
For me, it was a little tricky at first, but note that I had the hiatus hernia repair done at the same time, so that might be why.
I had lots of blockages - sometimes it was from eating too fast, or not chewing enough, but sometimes there was no apparent reason. The only way to relieve the pain was to throw up, and sometimes this happened easily and at other times it was gut-wrenching. And sometimes it didn't work at all for hours, and it was dreadful pain - until it was ready to move, and then it was immediate relief after throwing up. Usually I avoided food for about 24 hours after that, and just went back to Opti for that time. And if I'd just changed stages, I'd go back to the previous one for several days before trying again.
After I was on normal foods and eating most things, the only ones I had problems with were stir fries and lumps of meat - steak, chops, and that lasted for months. I can have them both now, though, and as far as I know there's nothing else that I can't eat.
I didn't try bread until about 4 months out, and was able to eat it with no problems - even rolls! Of course I can't have much of it, but it doesn't cause any problems.
Like Apple, I can eat about 200-250 ml of food at a sitting, depending on what it is, and occasionally I've had a little more without problems - but usually if I have more, I get overfull and feel dreadful for hours. I did have a problem a week or so ago, when I was in Tassie, and it felt like a blockage, even after I'd eaten carefully, so not sure what caused it, but I tried to throw up several times and couldn't, so just had to wait for it to settle. That took many hours, but afterwards I had no more problems. Just every now and then something unexpected like that will happen, but generally I feel that I'm over all that stuff now, and back to "normal" post-sleeve life.
I can eat chips without a problem (sorry, Lou), and sugar goes down really easily - I can fit more lollies or chocolate in than anything else! The good thing, though, is that so little (in comparison to pre-op) satisfies me now! It was a little different in the first few months, though - fat and sugar gave me dumping syndrome, so I avoided them like the plague. Hmmm, in a way, it's a shame that stopped! LOL No, not really - but now I have to use self-control!
Unlike Apple, I do get hungry, but it's not like the hunger I used to have before the op, and it's easily satisfied. However it occasionally goes from "gee, I'm hungry, it must be time to eat", to "wow, I'm really hungry and have to eat NOW!". When that happens, I tend to eat fast or overeat (it only takes one teaspoon extra to feel uncomfortable), so I'm learning that if it's still an hour or two to the next meal when I'm feeling hungry, to have something small to tide me over.
Oh, with drinking - I can drink soft drinks, but the bubbles really do make me uncomfortable so I try to let them go flat before drinking them. I drink more slowly than before, but can drink fast if need be - but not much.
Well, I've written far more than I intended to, so if you've got this far, congratulations! LOL
Chris

Eight months out and my most recent "bout" was yesterday.

I took my wife who had the Roux-en-Y in December to her first post-op kosher deli (pastrami on rye with french fries - chips on the side). We now typically order a single meal and split it between us; and even then we still take some of the meal home. My wife was good and stuck with the sandwich only. Me well, the kosher dill slices, then about half of the half-sandwich (remember that kosher delis like to pile the meat on to the bread).

Well, the pastrami was very lean (a good thing!) so that went down ok. We took a box home with the remainder of our sandwiches and fries and a few hours later, enjoyed the rest of the sandwich. My mistake was reheating the fries and attempting to eat some of those. Must have been the reheated oil (a bad thing!) as within 10 minutes, into the restroom I went. Fortunately, not a whole lot as I only ate 3, maybe four fries.

So, there are still a number of things that I cannot "stomach." Fried foods are the worst (and we're not supposed to have those anyway, but from time to time, I slip - with similar results - I'll be good now for a while), and I'm still having a problem with steak (and I miss that!). Ground beef and turkey is fine, but I really miss the taste of a good NY sirloin, but cannot stand the after affect.

I'm thinking that we will be achieving a new "normal" as the previous "normal" is what brought us to this point in our lives.

Hope this helps.

LOL that all sounds very manageable:) You know, I think the biggest post surgery change I am worried about is not being able to drink a bottle of water really fast. Hopefully when I loose this weight next summer won't be as awful as this summer has been, but when I am thirsty I can slug down 600ml in on go.

I had quiet a few problems with yoghurt custar icecream. the mushies in general. I felt bloated and horrible and over full. the second I went to diced up food I was on a winner. Up and running so to speak. pate and beetroot and cruskets wos yumm. very finely diced up hame tomato cucumer, I do mean very fine, then a poached egg or a little mayo mixed though it and onto a crusket and I was in heaven. This was about week 5. I never looked back and have been able to eat anything and everything since then. My only issues even now are feeling extremely full from of all things icecream. It just seems to stay in my stomach for ever. It is no real problem just something odd. I can eat 1 measuring cup of food or about 200-250grams of food at a sitting. What fits comfortably on a bread and butter plate. this has not changed from about 6 months out. so no terrible stretching of the stomach has occured *LOL* I digest food faster now so can snack more if I wanted to. I do no suffer any hunger at all at any time. I can feel an odd empty feeling at times but it is not hungry it is oh I might need to eat something, not a need or want to eat.

The male of the species was totaly different, he had no problems at all with the yoghurts custard etc and mushies where fine. He did eat a LOT less volume wise than I did at these stages tho. He was a lot lot slower moving on from mushies and found normal food a bit of a challenge to start with. He was pretty close to being vegetarin for quiet a few months. It gradually improved. From about 4 months he was fine with everything except tough red meat. He still had a problem with that until about 9 months I would guess. His volume of food conumed was also a lot less than mine up until about then and then when the meat issue settled down he was able to eat the same amount as I can. this is how it has stayed. The only difference between us now is the fact he can guzzel drinks. DRIVES ME NUTS I HATE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can down a glass of drink now but oh I would love to down 600ml if I wanted on a hot day, but nah that just will not work. He can tho. He still is slow drinking a beer. But can drink them hehehehe I forgot I do have one problem that is drinking diet coke or pepsi out of a can, I get foamy burps. very annoying so I tend to avoid more than a sip from a can unless forced to.

applesauce

i followed my post op diet properly ( not like deb...naughty girl...hehehehe) so i started eating normally after about 6 weeks. I didnt have any problems with food until i was 6 months out from surgery when i ate a few bites of a chicken avocado and mayo roll and the roll just did not want to go down....i thought i would do the right thing and have a drink but the drink just sat on top of the roll....i walked around the side of the car and did a little burp while bending forwards and out popped the drink and a bit of roll....all fixed. This same thing happened to me again last saturday night this time with a hot beef and gravy roll ( roll again....make mental note..lol) I also had this again this week after eating a homemade scone ( 2 days old) I burped over the sink and bought up a little bit and felt fine straight away ( maybe im just not a scone maker after all..lol).
But considering all this i have been sleeved for nearly 9 months and 3 small things in that time is really nothing.

Nicole

Sorry, just read the thread after my last stupid comment- I couldn't resist.
I have not vomited once since the surgery. I have not had any problems with any food post surgery. Even ate 3 beef satay sticks for a meal at 4 weeks post-op. Was told off severley by my then "personal trainer" and promised him I would stick to mushies like I should be for the next 2 weeks.
If I eat too quickly or don't chew enough I feel some foods all the way down after I swallow. If I eat too much it feels like the food is backed up in my system all the way to the back of my throat, which I'm sure it isn't.

Don't think I have ever been 100% normal LOL

It is actually less of a problem post-sleeve. Not quite regurgitation, but almost. None of that tummy turning into knots type of feeling I used to get pre-sleeve.

But still not nice of course!

Does it hurt more than normal when you chuck post sleeving?

I guess we will always have to be careful with gastro viruses that we don't dehydrate.

Hey Belly

You know there is no TMI on this forum!

But ROFLMAO - "Getting on top of it". Oh my goodness you made me laugh.

You seem to be better off than me - I've had several things that have come on the reverse journey unfortunately - including a couple that I had no trouble with the first time. I just don't know why, but will be asking the doctor tomorrow when I see him for my checkup. I don't mind that it is happening - just need to understand the reason for it and I'll be able to handle it better. Liquids and proper mushies are still no trouble at all. And some things like cake, chocolate (I have had a tiny bit), and bikkies and dip were no trouble at all. Not sure if that is good or bad.

Haven't tried rice of any kind yet - thought it was too much carb and not enough protein.

I haven't had any reverse constipation - just a bit of a blockage. I've changed my brekky to include sunflower seeds and linseed meal, as well as some pear (all in plain yoghurt) so I think that will help. I'm also taking fibre tablets and using Benefibre where I can.

I just wanted to know how others are going and when things might get back to sleeve-normal for me.

Thanks
Caz

Hiya Caz,

As you know i am a week ahead of you. So far i haven't found anything i haven't been able to eat. However the steak i tried, wasn't actually chewie but i just couldn't be bothered to chew it enough. I haven't bothered with it again cause it just wasn't worth the effort. I even overcame my nervousness about bread and had a sambo yesterday..well 1/2 a sambo anyway!

I'll probably jinx myself, but i haven't chucked once. And i seem to be able to eat far to fast without any adverse reactions. But i do keep a good eye on how much i've had so i don't over do it. I have discovered several things i LOVED pre band don't appeal to me anymore, fried rice for example. I haven't had any potato chips since pre optifast, my personal most dangerous food. Or chocolate for that matter, but i don't crave chocolate till i have some then i go on a bender! so i just don't have it.

The only issue i am having...TMI ALERT... i seem to be alternating between diarrhoea and constipation. But i beleive this is a common after affect of this surgery, but i seem to be getting on top of, slowly lol! I have come to dispise anything with 'lax' in the name, hehehe!

Oooo I am so pleased to read this:) My problem is the volume I eat rather than the quality, although I admit that I have developed a tendency to think that if I am going to gain weight anyway, I might as well eat something naughty. I do enjoy healthy food, but its nice to know that the occasional (once a month?) treat will be possible.

Ooooh Sophia

I'm so glad you said that about Yum Cha. It was one of the things I was wondering how I would go with - and our family does so love it. Wow - 3 pieces. I had guessed something around that - maybe 3-4.

Good news about eating everything - do you still have to take it really slowly or suffer the consequences?

Caz