Thyroidectromy post-op 8 days: A Healing Diet

My nutrition goal is to maximize my healing.

My first four days after surgery were spent at the hospital eating hospital food. The hospital food was excellent, healthy, correctly portioned, and I very enjoyable. Staying at the hospital so long had a tendency to be boring, so, I would walk laps around the hospital wing in order to stay active.

I have brought those habits home from the hospital with me.

Before surgery, I usually exercised 30-60 minutes per day on a stationary bike, elliptical, or walking. I am now strictly walking and taking it easy. Instead of 4mph on the treadmill or even jogging, I am walking 2.5 mph - just enough to break a light sweat.

The biggest take home was with the diet. I researched what I wanted to eat after surgery to promote healing. After surgery, I have been using My Fitness Pal app (something I regularly used before) to keep track of calories, but even more important - I am now using it to keep track of nutrition. The app will tell me if I am over on sodium or low on potassium, for example. I try to design meals around meeting my nutrition needs because I want to heal up quick and right.

I am also sticking to whole foods as much as possible. A whole food is an unprocessed item in its natural existence. For example, a potato can be baked and eaten with very little seasoning or additional flavoring added. An apple is a whole food. I am eating a lot of natural apple sauce where the only ingredient is apples. For protein, I am sticking to lean alternatives such as chicken, turkey, and eggs (although I have a roast in the crockpot (slow cooker) for tonight). I get meats from the meat department, avoid oily marinades, and just bake, cook, or grill it.

Next, I have removed refined sugars, white flower, diet soda, and anything deep fried. Again, I might not (or maybe I will) have this be a life style change. My goal is promote healing and these items do not help! Instead of soda, I am drinking tons of water. If I have bread, it is whole grain. If I have cereal, it is All Bran. My daughter brought home an incredible crumb apple pie that I decided not to eat because I would rather heal. My only "sin" in this area - I do use a flavored creamer for my coffee.

I have a short list of super healing foods that I use to snack on. For example, I might grab a couple of raw shelled almonds, tangerines, yogurt, or some All Bran cereal.

It has only been eight days and I am pleased with the results. I plan to continue this effort and will provide further updates as time goes on.