making it through the stages

The pre-op full liquid diet was pretty easy, I had some tuna, egg whites etc now and then plus my shakes, and lost significantly well.  Now 2 weeks out from surgery I feel perfect. I've never had any sort of upset stomache, I can tolerate anything.  I feel like if I were to eat a small chicken breast I would be full very quickly and wouldn't have any trouble with it what so ever.  For that matter I feel I could do the same thing with a 3 oz steak.  I am sticking to the pureed no chunk soups and broths like I'm supposed to for the next 3 weeks but why so long?  I know for some people that much time is warranted because everyone is different but waiting is hard when I feel fine.  (except I'm dizzy and light headed as can be when I bend over and stand back up, and I'm not dehydrated 80oz every day) Thoughts?

Different doctors have different plans so you'd have to ask them why they  chose this one.  I'm not sure about the different durations.  I know that I left the hospital on full liquids, the next day I could start puree, after my 1 week appointment I was on soft foods, and am anticipating being moved to full food diet after my 1 month appointment next week.  This is the plan that my surgeon uses for all surgeries and I'm not sure why his is so much more liberal than most but he seems to be pretty serious about sticking to evidence based decisions rather than standard protocol.  I have had no troubles with this approach.  I know that some people struggle and they have them slow up a bit.  I learned this at support group.  But most people do just fine.

Unfortunately, not every surgeon follows the same food guidelines.  Mine was two weeks of liquids, two weeks of pureed foods, then on to solid food.  

The good news is that the longer you avoid solid foods, you're likely to lose more weight.  The lightheadedness could be due to the changes your body is undergoing with regard to recent surgery, diet and hormones.  I felt it too.  It went away around the 4-5 week time frame.

The restriction of your new stomach takes some time to kick in.  I didn't fully understand it until it happened to me around week 5-6.  You might feel like you can eat a larger quantity now, but it will change once your body and those newly cut nerve endings heal.

I found the dizziness and being light headed was due to eating too few carbs. I was trying to do 20g and below but found my happy medium to be closer to 30g a day. 

As for beef..let alone steak..quite a few people have issues with it even several months out post op. I am very protective of my new tummy. I didn't have a bite of beef until last week, being 3 months out now. The beef I had was Famous Daves moist, thinly sliced brisket and I ate a piece about the size of a quarter and chewed it throughly. It stayed put but I'm in no big rush to have steak as I see very good results sticking with fish and chicken.

Yes, I'm sure you could eat a small chicken breast right now..but don't because you are flirting with disaster. Your stomach is still healing, you don't want to compromise your staple line and the nerves in your stomach have been cut and won't give you the full signal..instead, if you overeat, you will get the throw up, foamies, heartburn signal. Eat 2 oz, wait 10 minutes and..you should get a full signal by then. You're still in the mostly soft food stage and you aren't going to get the STOP signal until you get into solids. It's good practice to begin the weighing while still in the pureed stage. This isn't some thing that you have to do for only a  few weeks. This is something that you will have to do for the foreseeable future..you'll see the vets on here that have lost successfully and kept it off making that a priority in their daily eating. The goal is to actually undereat your sleeve until you are in maintenance. You want that new tiny tummy to stay it's beautiful hot dog size as long as possible. 

I was on clear fluids for 2 weeks, then full liquids for 2 weeks, then pureed food for 2 weeks and at 6 weeks out was ok'd for solids. Each step was necessary for me and making sure I had at least 60g of protein a day helped my body heal faster.

I've mentioned this before, but a poster on here was eating pizza at 2 weeks out. Why? Because this person felt "fine" and wanted to test the boundaries of this new tummy. I've heard of someone eating popcorn at 3 weeks out and one of the kernels got in their staple line and caused an emergency surgery due to the tissue breaking down. 

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. This is all part of the new, healthier you, making the right decisions to make sure you have the greatest success with your new tool. 

Your new stomach needs to heal.  The last thing you want to do is compromise the staple line.  Your stomach is swollen and the nerves are healing.  I was told it would take about 6 weeks total.  You're are right to stick to the plan.  Good luck!!!

My plan was straight to pureed protein on day three (only meat, cheese, fish and eggs) and then to regular on day 14.  i have had no problem with most things that people tend to have an issue with like chicken breast, eggs and steak.  The only issue I am noticing with steak, the further I get out, is that it has to be lean.  Some meats have the fat marbled throughout and i just seem to feel a bit strange if the protein is on the fattier side.  I tend to avoid it.  Unfortunately, we all have to follow our plans as that is the reason we did this.  I wish you much luck!

Everything my surgeon explained to me and everything I've read all end up with the same basic reason for avoiding solids the first 4-6 weeks and that is to let the staple last be heal. Eat solids too soon and they make ght get stuck and cause a rupture or leak. 

I am only on day three of protein liquids and I am already tired of it and can't wait to get to mushies!

I hope that time passes quickly for us both and that we will be back to eating "normal" food before we know it!

I Appreciate everyone's advice and feedback I'm doing okay I plan to keep to on track with my surgeons plan.  He has it for a reason I know. And more importantly this is a marathon not a sprint. Thanks everyone 

Glad you are feeling better, but you are correct- wait your phases out.  You don't want anything getting stuck in that staple line that is a raw, hot mess right now.  Dizziness has a variety of possibilities-

1.  Electrolyte imablance- try Powerade zero for some of your liquids

2. Adjust your medication- if you were on blood pressure medicine or something like metformin a tweak may be in order

3.  Increase fluids- maybe 80 ounces is not enough for you (I have to go at least 120)

4.  Low blood sugar- if you are doing low carb this may be the culprit.  Try to notice if you feel better 15 mintues after eating.  Test your sugar levels if you can. 

5.  Low sodicum- not as common, but this was a major culprit for me.  It lowered my blood pressure so when I would stand up or change positions I would get dizzy and light headed.  Post op I ate all fresh stuff and avoided processed like the plague, and I don't cook with salt.  I actually had to change that mindset about the salt to get enough in, and even have to take a supplement every so often.  

Check your blood pressure fairly regularly.