Disclaimer: The advice on this website has come out of my own experience in my own particular situation. Where it contradicts your nutritionist’s advice, please ignore mine. Your nutritionist knows best.
In the first few weeks after your surgery, you’ll find yourself navigating a culinary minefield. You’re still recovering from the surgery itself, and at the same time you have to get used to taking a whole new approach to eating and nutrition. Where do you begin? How do you make sure you’re eating a balanced and nutritious diet?
When I came out of hospital after gastric surgery, to make sure I ate a healthy variety of food every day, I made myself up a chart of the basic food groups and the number of serves I needed each day as recommended by my nutritionist. I put a copy on my fridge each week. Every time I had something to eat, I ticked it off on the chart and it helped me decide what to eat next. I only needed to do this for a few weeks, but it helped me establish good eating habits which still stand me in good stead. (You can download a PDF copy of the chart here.)
Straight after your surgery, your nutritionist may recommend high protein drinks available in powdered or liquid form and/or powdered meal replacement products. These may be good for the first few weeks, but they can get boring and some are high in sugar.
Later you may move onto an unflavoured neutral protein powder. Being neutral it can be used in both sweet and savoury food, and as a substitute for liquid or powdered milk. It can be used to make a hot chocolate or a latte, stirred into soup to make it creamy, blended into puréed banana or a smoothie, added to porridge, mashed potatoes or a scrambled egg, made into a cheese sauce, used to cream vegetables, in macaroni cheese and other creamy pasta dishes, or to make high protein biscuits or muffins. (See High Protein Biscuits or High Protein Muffins)
Before you even get to that point, however, your best option is the simple egg – highly nutritious, small, easy to digest and versatile. See Fast Eggs for a range of basic egg dishes.
Another alternative is to cook in bulk and freeze in your preferred portion size. See Cooking in Bulk to find a range of recipes I found useful in my early days.
Depending on the type of surgery you’ve had or your stomach capacity, you might not be able to eat bread. Rice cakes might not be the tastiest snack, but they make a good substitute for bread if you need one. You could also try pita bread which can be used for roll-ups or toasted sandwiches, as a pizza base, or, at a pinch, as a substitute for pastry. (See 6 Ways with Pita Bread)
While many of the recipes and recommendations on this website are based on a portion size of 300 – 320gm (or 1¼ – 1½ cups), you’ll also find a wide range of snacks and mini meals designed for smaller portions, so you won’t have to sacrifice variety in your diet.
Following are recipes for snacks and small meals that you might find useful in your early days:
» Quick Vegetable Side Dishes from the Pantry
» Quick and Healthy Snacks: Feeling Peckish
» Quick and Healthy Snacks: Soup-in-a-Mug
» Quick and Healthy Snacks: Macaroni and Cheese
» Quick and Healthy Snacks: Homemade Dips
» Quick and Healthy Snacks: High Protein Biscuits
» Quick and Healthy Snacks: High Protein Muffins
Or you could consult the Quick and Healthy Snacks and Desserts overview.
If you’re not up to cooking more than an egg yet, you might find some helpful hints in the entry Small Portions with Next to No Cooking.