Typical daily ileo diet... what's yours?

Hi Sarah,

I haven't really restricted my diet at all since getting my ileo in May because nobody ever told me I was supposed to. Since reading the posts on here I realize there are some foods I should be careful with, but I have still eaten most of the foods that they say can potentially cause a blockage and, so far (knock on wood) I haven't had any issues. Last week I did have a bit of pain and watery output and I was worried it might be the beginning of a blockage but it seemed to pass quickly. I am now being a bit more careful (removing skin from fruit, making sure I chew a lot) but I'm still eating almost everything I want.

My biggest concern is that I have never been one to drink enough throughout the day. I should be drinking a lot more water, but so far I haven't had any issues with dehydration.

Here is what was on the menu yesterday:

Breakfast - multigrain toast with jam or peanut butter, orange juice (with pulp), coffee
Snack - 1 cup of fresh blueberries, water
Lunch - slice of leftover pizza with bacon, mushroom, green pepper, yogurt
Snack - Fresh peach (with the skin removed), water
Dinner - tacos made with pork tenderloin, avocado and pineapple, blueberry pie (with sliced almond topping), diet pop

Sorry you are not feeling well :(

sarah-

Just glancing at what  you are eating.. makes me think you need  way more protein AND way more electroylyte drinks. Being dehydrated can make you feel naseous. Also some of the things you are eating/drinking - tea, chocolate milkshakes, plain water -  definitely increase output which can increase dehydrations. On the positive- the 5-6 meal a day plan is strongly recommended for many of us ilestomates and I know for me it has helped me regain weight, decrease semi-blockages, and just feel tons better. Think about protein every single time you eat something.

So here's a typical day for me.

Morning- fresh oatmeal(not the instant packages which are chock full of sugar) with fresh blueberries and almond milk AND a piece of whole grain toast with almond butter or pure organic peanut butter

Mid morning- fresh fruit smoothie made with fruits that are in season - today it was rasberry, peaches, and bananas, mixed with greek yogurt, ground flax seed, fresh orange juice, and local honey

Lunch - whole wheat Pasta with fresh grilled chicken (leftover from the night before) and fresh spinach in it. Or a huge salad with lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, cheese, and chicken. And some applesauce or fresh fruit like peaches with no skin.

Mid afternoon - cheese and crackers

Dinner- cucumber and tomato salad, Fish on the grill, fresh vegetables such as green beans or summer squash, jasmine rice, and maybe some frozen yogurt.

I sip an electroylyte drink all day every day and even in the night if I wake up.  I never drink plain water or have hot drinks. I really don't feel my diet is restricted at all and I feel the healthiest I have ever been since pre-UC days. (just got my perm. ileo 4 months ago after 6 years with UC and 4 years of surgeries and jpouch disasters)

Sarah-

One of the things that mystifies me the most about ileostomies the most is how different our food tolerances are. I don't get it. How can there be so much variation! Both my stoma nurse and surgeon were pretty moderate in their recommendations after surgery. For instance, both said it was usually fine to eat popcorn and veggies as long as I chewed well, drank plenty of water and kept amounts on the conservative side in one sitting (not a huge bowl of popcorn or nuts). The only thing my surgeon said to watch out for were Chinese veggies that were especially fibrous like snow peas, bean sprouts, bok-choy and bamboo shoots. So far their recommendations were spot on for me. I have had no issues eating anything including the typical no no foods like nuts, mushrooms, popcorn, sweet corn and raw veggies as long as I don't go crazy with quantities. And I eat these things a lot so I know my tolerance for them isn't a fluke. When I eat popcorn, it doesn't thicken my output at all. I hardly even find the hulls. My output is a little gritty, but that is it. Looking at my output after eating it, I cannot imagine how it could possibly cause a blockage... yet it does for some people who must not digest it in the same way.

I hear other stoma nurses being super conservative and saying to NEVER eat this or that. Had I listened to their recommendations, I would be cutting out so many things that I can actually eat with no problems. It just goes to show how different everyone is. I guess one just has to learn their own body's patterns and experiment a little at a time to see what works.

Here are some lists of things I have eaten on days this week:

Breakfast: 3 pancakes with fresh blueberries and two hard boiled eggs and a glass of orange juice.
Lunch: A whey protein shake with a banana and mango blended in. Glass of orange juice.
Dinner: Homemade Thai green curry with mushrooms, baby corn, onions, broccoli, green pepper, fresh basil and chicken on white rice. Veggies were stir fried until fairly tender.
After dinner: a cereal bowl size serving of popcorn popped with oil in a kettle. Water with a splash of fruit juice. (All in all, I drink about 3-4 liters of fluid in a given day. Water with a little Gatorade mix or a splash of fruit juice is my favorite).

Breakfast: Bowl of Chex cereal with a fresh peach cut up and put on top (I did peel the peach because the peel seemed tough. I don't always do this though and sometimes eat the peels). Glass of orange juice.
Lunch: yogurt, cereal bowl sized portion of fresh strawberries and blueberries, roast beef sandwich on gluten-free bread with cheese and lettuce.
Dinner: Homemade pizza topped with cheese, black olives, mushrooms, pepperoni, red onions and peppers.
After dinner: big slice of watermelon (about 6 triangular pieces)

Breakfast: Bowl of oatmeal, whey protein shake with banana and blueberries blended in and glass of orange juice
Lunch: Black bean burrito, yogurt
Dinner: Organic chicken brat on a gluten-free bun, baked potato without the peel with sour cream and chives, baked beans
After dinner: Coconut ice cream (not very many actual coconut pieces in it... just a few here and there).

Breakfast: Omelette with mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers and cheese. Glass of orange juice.
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on gluten-free bread with lettuce and cheese, yogurt, applesauce
Dinner: Spaghetti with tomato sauce and a cereal bowl sized salad with fresh romaine lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, sliced tomatoes, sliced baby carrots, broccoli, and black olives.

All in all, I really do eat just like I did before I had UC and my ostomy. I have only had three instances since I had my ostomy surgery in 2010 where it felt like my stoma was really having to force things out: eating a large, particularly fuzzy and unripe peach, eating a dinner that had a bunch of shrimp, and eating too large of a quantity of sunflower seeds on an empty stomach without chewing them well. In all these cases the material seemed to ball up and had trouble coming out, but it wasn't really a blockage. I have never gotten nauseated or bloated from things not traveling through.

Hope your consultation goes well and you figure out what is causing the issues! It must be awful to be scared to eat and feeling so sick. So sorry you are going through this.

Today I've probably had what many ostomates would consider a nightmare (or a fantasy lol):

Breakfast: Sultana Bran with milk
Lunch: Steak and Mushroom pie
Afternoon Tea: Mixed nut selection
Dinner: Lasagne with corn and carrots
After: couple of glasses of white wine.

Oh, and with more glasses of water in between than I would normally drink because I have a cold and need to replace even more fluids than normal (having said that, I don't drink nearly as much as is specified in various sites for ileostomates, as I, apparently, should).

I had my ileo surgery in the days before ostomates were told not to eat this and not to eat that, for which I'm eternally greatful. I was just told to 'chew, chew, chew'. I've never been afraid to try new things, as a result, and have never had any blockages, etc either. I haven't found anything I can't eat in my ileo's 35 year history, thank goodness.

Sarah, I hope you can have a good time on your vacation, despite the food issues. Are you going to have some options for taking it easy? My vacation was more of a go, go, go trip, not the best for me, in retrospect, although it was fun and I'm having "staycation" this week to recover from the vacation.

I have been toning down my food this week, but I'm still eating a lot more things than you are. Here's "typical" now:

breakfast -- scrambled eggs w/cooked spinach and feta. Small portion of potatoes (have peppers and garlic in them)

snack -- plum

lunch -- refried beans, tortillas, cheddar cheese, salsa and a bit of salad greens (chopped tomato if I have one)

small piece of very dark, very good chocolate

snack -- toast, sometimes w/cheese

dinner -- smoothie made from soy milk, frozen banana, peanut butter, and a bit of cocoa powder.

Also, I find that when I have flexibility w/my schedule, I tend to eat later. I often swim in the morning and don't eat breakfast until 10 am or so (when last night's food has cleared). Then I have my big meal at 2 pm or so, and the smoothie at 6 or 7 pm. This won't work when school starts in the fall(and didn't work on vacation), but seems to be what I'm gravitating toward now.

I'm eating a lot less overall and fewer veggies/fruit at least for now. A few weeks ago I'd have had more salads, stir fries, and pieces of fruit on the list.... not sure where it's going to land.

Hope the docs can figure something out that helps you....hang in.

Yesterday I had
Cottage cheese for breakfast
2 bananas and some nutter butter later
A nutrigrain bar
Chex mix and some peaches (peeled the peel is icky,lol)
And I drink only water all day, I've never had a problem with being dehydrated, unless I drink alcohol and don't drink water with it. I never drink sports drinks and rarely drink coke. I guess I'm the only person that thinks plain old water is ok. And I've never had a Dr tell me otherwise.
The only food I've ever had a problem with is fried cheese sticks or once a bag of popcorn when i didn't also eat a small piece of bread. I used to eat a whole bag of popcorn at a time with no problems.

Breakfast - cooked cream of rice cereal with protein shake on it.

Lunch - Scrambled egg on crackers and decaf coffee

Dinner - yogurt and protein powder

Inbetween lots of liquid. Rosemary

Well my most recent consult said it takes about 2 months for a stoma to assume its final shape. Wrap wood but I think I have the pouching thing down. So far anyway no more leaks. The weird flattened out part of my stoma is still there. The new stoma was a nice whole inch across with this huge opening when it was new. Gas and any food passed no matter what position I was in. Now with only a half inch of it across being the active part of the stoma while the other half inch acoss is inactive and flat againt my skin, I am back to having to lie on my right side at night or being upright tol pass stuff. Gas sort of gets to the stoma and does not poop out unless I have something gushy to eat, but then it at least does pass. Sure better than the strictured stoma for sure but not as good as when it was new june 4 and none of it had collapsed. Aug 13 I have consult with a different doc in NYC retroactively recommended by my original stoma surgoen whose stoma lasted 4 years. So I guess at this point it is wait and see. Over july 4 I atr raviloii drank a lot of flavored water and all passed so who knows?

How are you doing? Rosemary