WHAT ARE YOU HAVING FOR DINNER TONIGHT? Tell us! And how long is it since your sleeve?

First topic message reminder :

I thought this would be a good thread to give early sleevers some hope that eventually life will be normal again!

I am seven months and 3 weeks out, and tonight I am munching on melted cheese and ham on toast with relish (one piece is all I can manage). I might have a bowl (small) of ice cream in an hour if I get peckish later!

HI there Ginger Chicken

1/2 a cup of food is prob about the size of the palm of your hand without the fingers involved. Or alternatively, curl your fingers up and move your thumb in a little and whatever will fit in the cup of your hand.  Some of those little round pastel coloured plastic baby food containers are around half a cup.  They're the ones I use to have an idea what a 'meal' size is for me.  They're in most supermarkets, sometimes hanging on the sides of shelves, they sell about 4 together with the lids - they're a lemon, orange, pale green and pale blue colour. 

But don't get too bogged down in specifics such as 'half a cup'

Everyone will be and is different because things like mousse or liquidy things take up different space I've found, and will slide down the cracks so to speak. And if you take the full 20 - 25 minutes to eat your food, you'll prob get more down than if you eat it quickly (that's what I've found which is opposite to what you'd expect).  Sometimes I find I'm hungry again an hour after I've had a meal because its slid down and there's a gap again lol (Ya can't win).

I am now 8 months post sleeve and have lost almost 40 kg (yippeee) 30 kg to go (mmmm) and the restaurant and dining out thing is a problem for me - well - its a good problem to have - we don't do it much any more so that saves money lol. No but really  - that's one of the things that I miss - going to a nice restaurant and having an entrée and a main to try the different dishes.  Now of course that's impossible (which is kinda the point lol).

I can prob eat a whole entrée and nothing else - literally .... or eat half an entrée and some of a main course.  So then you find yourself paying good money for food that goes to waste and getting a doggie bag in a nice restaurant is a bit gauche I find.  Of course you have the right to take the left over food home - you paid for it after all, but it's not a good look.

What I have noticed thought, since Ive been eating smaller portions is that standard portion sizes in restaurants (will mainstream ones - not FINE dining) are HUGE.  Its no wonder we have a problem as a nation. 

And if you go to Maccas' and you just order a coffee and a wrap, if you don't get the coffee, wrap AND Hash brown (in a meal) - it costs MORE not less - go figure.  So the food industry is skewed against us I reckon lol.

I don't regret for a moment having the surgery, its given me my life back.  I feel great, I'm doing so much more, more easily than before even though I still have 30 kg to go.  Thank GOD for the SLEEVE.

And as Bumbles says - on topic - for lunch today I had almost one of those baby food containers mentioned above, full of some scrambled egg, baked beans and chopped up bits of bacon - full on protein.

For me, I just kind of squint at the food and imagine it all squished/stacked up. But more around how much you know you can fit in, like 1 tenderloin and a teaspoon or two of mash and peas, or 1 party pie and 1 party sausage roll (I had a little kids birthday to attend lol), so I use those non squishy images to measure up other similarly shaped foods to judge what will fit.

It wont always be 1/2 cup either, I find the solidness of the food reduces the amount I can fit in, for example I could eat 1/2 cup of mash no issues maybe even a little more, but no way I could do 1/2 cup of chicken. 

But on topic! I am having tuna, cheese potato croquettes for tea, 17g of protein in one muahaha.

I keep wondering????

What actually is 1/2 cup of food???

Can anyone give me an idea if what to expect??

I know for example, that 1/2 cup of peas is easy to measure.... But what does it mean for foods that don't measure like that??

I'm not sleeved, obviously, and want to get my head around it..... I suppose, especially what it would  mean having dinner out or at someone's house?.

Thanks in advance
Ginger x

A little over seven months out now for me. Tonight, holy crap, so delicious! We had chicken and sweet potato stacks.

Recipe here

Here is my before and after. Would have been around 1/4 of a chicken breast on my plate.

I am 2 months post sleeve. 

For tea last night had half a ham and cheese toasted sandwich and later on a low fat yogurt - trying a new variety called Rachels gourmet or something. It wasnt too bad, but must admit I prefer the full fat ones even if I eat less of them.

For tea tonight am having about half a cup of a curried mince casserole with about a desertspoon of mashed potato.  I made a batch of the curried mince and portioned it out and its sitting in the fridge read for an easy meals.

For breakfast this morning I had a Maccas - one of those scrambled egg, tomato and back wraps,  they are just the right size and a small flat white which I only drank half of and then finished the rest off reheated at morning tea time.

1/2 portion perfection bowl (1/2 cup) of stir fry, chicken and veges seasoned with my own home made sweet hot thai chilli jam and some grated ginger and a dash of soy. One bite of custard apple, just for the taste,  to finish.
I was sleeved on the last day in january 2014

cheers,
Llyr

5months out, bread and butter plate....lunch....ate about half of it.


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Hi all 

I was sleeved on the 28th Oct 2013 - had lost 32kgs and then stalled for 4 weeks so decided to get serious this week again and only pure protein. 

So today breakfast  1 scrambled egg with 1/2 tablespoon cheese 
Lunch - Aussie Bodies 98 % fat free shake Dutch Choc 30 grams protein 
Afternoon Tea - 120 gram shaved ham 
Dinner - 7 Prawns 
Dessert - 1/2 yoplait greek yogurt no fat no sugar 

Amazing when I get back on track - the protein really fills me up and I don't feel hungry.Its so good to be a bit more  in control. I was eating a few carbs i.e slice of toast for breaky , vegies with every meal and cruskits every day. Obviously I just cant do that if I want to keep losing. Its hard to maintain the right mindset esp when there are temptations everywhere. I still have 18kgs to go. 

Hope everyone is having a great week.

This is not dinner, it's actually lunch... But I'm not far off being 3 years post op and I get worried a lot of the time that I've stretched my sleeve as I can fit a fair amount in.

Today I've got silverside & veg for lunch... It's a pre-packed meal of 1 slice of silverside (about a cm thick, and the size of the palm of my hand), and some veggies.

It's take me 20 minutes to eat 3/4 of the silverside and I feel so uncomfortable right now, and have the frothies (ughhhh)... Normally, I'd be able to eat probably 2 slices of silverside and maybe a couple of veg over a half hour period without any issues at all.

So YAY for restriction still!

PS/ And I've actually not eaten anything at all today apart from an iced coffee at 6am this morning when I got to work, and maybe half a litre of water since then.

GeoffN wrote:

Crab Salad
 - Small packet or tin of cooked crab meat
 - diced apple
 - diced celery
 - diced, seeded tomato
 - squirt of harissa paste, tobasco, or fresh red chili
 - tablespoon of good mayo to bind it together
 - squeeze of lemon
 - salt and pepper
 - fresh, green salad leaves of your choice

Mix it all up, season to taste, serve on the fresh salad leaves.

That sound like it might actually be nice pureed on a cruskit. Darn, another 11 days before I can try it :(

Crab Salad
 - Small packet or tin of cooked crab meat
 - diced apple
 - diced celery
 - diced, seeded tomato
 - squirt of harissa paste, tobasco, or fresh red chili
 - tablespoon of good mayo to bind it together
 - squeeze of lemon
 - salt and pepper
 - fresh, green salad leaves of your choice

Mix it all up, season to taste, serve on the fresh salad leaves.

I have just sat down to a vitamised and thinned down version of chicken laksa fresh from the deli fridge in Woolies lol.

10 days post op and obviously on liquids.

As a side note, I forgot to have lunch today. First time ever in my life that I forgot to eat!!!  Even when I had the sleeve I was starving and needed food every 2 -3 hours. So far, enjoying the bypass.

Oops I forgot I had 4 pieces of chocolate near lunchtime....I will just call that lunch :D

Sadly I didn't get dumping from it. :(

Alllrighty. I am.. about 4.5 months out, and dinner tonight was Taco Salad, based off this recipe. I didn't have the tortilla chips, just the mince mixture, lettuce, tomato, a bit of grated cheese, about a teaspoon of lite sour cream and about a tablespoon of mashed avocado. Yum.

I was able to get about 1/3 of a cup in, so yay me!

That's it GeoffN what is your address? I'm coming to dinner!!!!!! Seriously though that sounds great!
regards,
Llyr

6 weeks out...
- Grilled Swordfish steak with a salad of caramelised red onion, capers, cherry tomatoes, lambs lettuce and Japanese roast sesame seed dressing

4 and a bit weeks out

A poached egg in Napolitana sauce, with a sprinkle of goat's cheese. Yummo! Went down a treat

First night on soft_ 4 weeks since surgery- had about 1/2 a cup of mixed well roasted veges and a small piece of very tender lamb (2 bites). Oh my it was heaven.

Home made spinach and fennel spanakopita :-)

5 weeks out
- 48 hour slow cooked Pork Ribs
- Red Cabbage and Apple Coleslaw

Ribs worked well....you can't eat them quickly, and they fill the plate up nicely

Tonight I had 40 gms of chicken and the absolutely perfect cheek of a fresh mango- verrry slowly but oh so deliciously.
I am almost 4 weeks out so everything thoroughly chewed and then some.

Lamb Meatballs with a tomato, chilli and garlic sauce
Wilted Spinach

Tandori chicken, mushed. 85g of chicken = 14.9 grams of protein. And it stayed down!! Maybe not the most exciting dinner but until the other day I could only dream of eating this much.

No dessert. Waaaay too full.

I am almost 4 weeks out.

My intention is not to "chastise" you as such, Glenice, but more so to try and make you realise that you DO need to listen to your professional surgical teams instructions!

We don't all know the answers, especially me - I had my sleeve years ago, and there are times when I still get it wrong and make myself sick.

It's a learning curve, but you must pay attention to the professional advice given and follow instructions from them at all times.

Thanks guys for clearing up the 'puree' concept.  Am duly chastised and back in my box.  I will choose my words more carefully in open forum.

+1 for CeeCee - you need to be working with your dietician and surgeon during the eating stages that they prescribe for you. Everything that I'm eating has been guided closely by my discussions with my clinical team, and may not necessarily be appropriate for anyone else at 1 month post op.

There are no really hard lines between the different stages of the diet plans that you will be given, it's a gradual progression from sipping on thin liquids through to solid food that needs to be chewed before it can be swallowed.

The things I've eaten to this point really don't need to be chewed, they could be broken down to an acceptable texture with minimal effort....think of something like a mousse..it looks solid, but once it is in your mouth it effectively dissolves into almost nothing.

"Purees" cover a range of textures that range from a thick liquid through to stuff that you can eat with a fork - the key thing is to avoid stuff that can form a lump that would cause trouble if you failed to grind it out with your teeth and not to progress to anything thicker than you are ready for. If you push the limits then you won't enjoy the meal, run the risk of hurting yourself and potentially doing serious damage.

The consistency of the texture of the food becomes very important - you can achieve this by blending your food up after it is cooked, or by taking care in the manual preparation of the food before it is cooked. The way that the food is sliced, trimmed and prepared for cooking makes a huge difference to the texture and consistency of the food, and to how well you will tolerate it during your recovery.

All that being said, I'm enjoying the challenges of having to rethink what I cook and eat to fit these new constraints....at no point in any of the eating stages does food have to be tasteless, boring or unsatisfying - with a little creative thought it is possible to eat well and stay entirely within your diet plan.