I am 14 weeks post total gastrectomy.

Here’s some foods I’ve been sticking to lately. I’ve ranked them by chew factor. The bigger chewing requirements mean I have to be more careful or some of it might come up. My no chew items haven’t caused me any issues, woohoo!

Minimal chewing required
Mangos
Avocados
Lactose-free milk
Sandwich thins slathered with peanut butter
Processed cheese slices
Crackers
Addition of protein powder (have to sip slowly because of fullness)
Oatmeal
Yogurt
Cheerios
Spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar

Some chewing, but goes well
Those frozen tilapia filets baked, add butter
Jasmine rice
Peas (over green beans b/c of their skin)
Strawberries (over grapes b/c of their skin)
Bananas (but filling. Usually just do half at a time)
Box Mac n cheese
Peanut butter crackers
Cashews (high calorie, easiest nut to chew, kind of sad by the protein count)
Cooked beans
Soups in general (not necessarily high calorie, but soup contents are soft and easy to chew)

Diligent chewing, but I consider it worth it
Chicken (fried stays juicier and therefore easier to chew, baked also & probably healthier)
Sausage with skin peeled off

With the exception of the fruits and clear carbs like rice/pasta, all of the above have great protein content. Amazingly Mac n cheese shows 12g protein. I focus on chicken because I can get 40g protein. Since I’m trying for 75g per day, I need a lot of protein!!! Between my morning protein shake, peanut butter and chicken, I’m able to hit my protein goals.

Have a good night!

Talking about poop is quite embarrassing, but as my post-op nurse said, “Around here, we celebrate poop.” (If you’re a friend or family member, please don’t read forward or just try not to mention this to me. As much as I might love you, a conversation about poop isn’t on my list of appropriate conversation topics.)

After your surgery, you have to poop for the doctors to let you go home.

So, what does poop mean to me 3 months post surgery? Well, think of it as a rough gauge to how well your nutrition is going. I’ve been told to make sure it’s not light colored, is solid and should sink. Basically when I’m not getting enough protein (yes, I’m a carb-a-holic), my poop starts failing the unofficial toilet bowl test. Some potential issues identified by poop are fatty food intolerance and some other nutrient absorption issues. Pretty much, post gastrectomy, your body screams at you for consuming too much unhealthy food.

On a separate note, I went for my first outdoor run this morning at 5AM. It was fabulous to be out there again, but equally sad to hear my runkeeper app remind me of my pace. I saw my fellow running peeps out there and that always makes me happy. I’m trying to figure what works best with food and water for my morning run. This morning, I laced up and headed right out with one of those water bottles that straps to your hand. It worked well to sip water as I went. (It’s 80 degrees with 90+% humidity here, so think dripping sweat.) Since chugging water doesn’t really work, keeping water on-hand during running works perfectly. The good part of an early morning run is that nothing in the day can get in the way; the hard part of an early morning run is the end of day tiredness sinking in. But I am feeling stronger and healthier everyday. My incision didn’t bother me during my run, and I was able to bust out 3 miles this morning. My cardio & leg power certainly isn’t up to snuff, but it’ll just take training to bring it back.

Given the title of this post, I’ll sign off with “Happy Pooping”.