Thursday, March 21, 2013

3 Suggestions for Transition Foods

This week I saw a patient of mine, Robert Johnson, who had a Robot Assisted Gastric Sleeve operation just 6 weeks ago. He is doing great and he agreed to have me share about his early weight loss and about some things he has found that may help you as well.
He is right on track and has lost 24 lbs since his operation 6 weeks ago. Thanks to the great nutritional teaching from our dietitians he lost an additional 51 lbs. prior to surgery as he went through the bariatric surgery program at the Weight Management Center here in Reading, Pa for a total of 75 lbs. of weight loss since he entered our program a few months ago. He is feeling great and very happy with his results so far.
He had 3 "finds" that has helped him through the transitions in the first 6 weeks after surgery. Here are his suggestions:
1). He found that putting Progressive Soups in a blender allowed him to have hardy liquids soon after surgery. He could vary the consistency by the time the soup was in the blender. He would heat the soup and separate into two 1 cup containers for 2 servings. Each cup has less than 300 calories.
2). To make sure he got 60 grams of protein each day that we recommend for men, (50 grams for women), he bought New Whey liquid protein at our local Walmart which has 42 grams of protein, 0 carbs and 0 fat per 6 once tube and comes in watermelon, grape or fruit punch flavors. You can buy them individually or as a package of 6. They are a bit pricey at about 2 dollars a tube but the amount needed will decrease as you are able to take more of the 60 grams in other foods.
3). He also found Hormel's pre-packaged Thick and Easy Puree' foods for adults at Walmart and he recommends the homestyle beef with potatoes and corn.
Great suggestions! Hopefully Robert's suggestions will help others as they transition from liquids after surgery to regular food.