Level Up - Phase 1 Complete

Sorry for the radio silence - settling into a new job left little energy for anything else the last week.

Thank god Phase 1is over. I feel like I need a gold crown and an animated facsimile of myself jumping up and down to celebrate.

Phase 1 was hard. The first three weeks post-op were liquids and purees the consistency of custard. For excitement, I could have chocolate mousse made with skim milk - whohoooo. I am so rock and roll baby.

Things that got me through Phase 1 included:

• Nutribullet - for turning chunky soups into smooth ones
• Set of scales for measuring food
• Measuring jug for liquids
• Measuring spoons - tablespoons were my most used, but I found the smallest measuring spoon was perfect for eating with the first week!
• Small/Medium plastic storage containers (for example breakfast was generally three tablespoons of Weetbix - I would squash two to three Weetbix up in a tub at a time, that lasts me just over a week, in the storage tub I keep a small 1 tablespoon measure so I don't have to go hunting,)

If you are UK based, the following foods will help give you some variety:

• Tesco Diet Chocolate Mousse (3 tablespoons was about 2/3 of a tub)
• Tesco Crab Pate (also the Smoked Salmon or the Mackeral) - half a container was one meal
• Ambrosia My Mini Custard - perfect serving size!
• John West Infusions Tuna - the chilli and garlic is best, half a tub plus a small dollop of cream cheese and a squirt of lemon or yuzu juice was amazing - throw it all together in a mini blender and pulse until smooth
• Lighter Life ready to drink shakes from SuperDrug - they give you 20g of protein per serve, perfect for drinking on your way to work for breakfast.

Foods that anyone would find useful that are generic:

• Miso soup - packets of instant miso, make as directed and just don't eat the chunky bits
• Flavoured Teas - I have been, and continue to, struggle with getting my 2 litres of liquids a day. Flavoured teas help. My current stash has all sorts of stuff - jasmine green tea, mixed berries, apple and mint.
• Speaking of Mint. Fresh mint, leaves only steeped in hot water. You can drink it hot, cold, luke warm. You can gargle it, You can even wash your face in it. It is fabulous, great for the inevitable gas that lurks like an unwanted guest at the end of a party.

So, now onto Phase 2. Adding texture, slowly increasing portion sizes and flavours.