staying healthy with braces

since february I have changed my lifestyle, adopting healthy eating habits which include a ton of helathy veggies. with the addition of exercise, I have lost 32 lbs, going from 185 to 153. (I am a 5'6" 21 y. female). I am very happy, and am on my way to my goal weight of 140.

I just got my separators on today and am getting braces put on a week from today. my teeth are extremely sore, and I absolutely CANNOT chew anything. I am sure the pain will lessen in a few days and I will be able to chew very soft things until I get my braces put on all over again.  I am worried about how to maintain my helathy eating habits with my new situation for these next two weeks. everyone has suggested  a lot of milkshakes and pudding, but I need nutrition, not just treats; I don't want to backslide in these two weeks.

I am looking for suggestions of non chewing and very soft chewing foods, and a possible way to get in veggies. I am not able to be home to create meals all the time, so something I can make and bring with me to work is ideal. I was also wondering/thinking about pureeing veggies in the food processor and drinking it? I don't have a juicer and am curious if this is okay to prepare ahead of time. -ie- make it in the morning and drink it for lunch at work. thanks.

Have you tried making a protein shake?  Mix some protein powder in with milk and you have a little more balanced snack than pudding or ice cream.  Mashed potatoes with a little melted cheese were my lifesaver.  I had braces when I was younger with the added benefit of rubber bands & headgear.  (It was the early 90s and my rubber bands were neon pink, green & purple...yeah, I was stylin'!)

Good luck with the braces.  It's all worth it in the end!

I have made some really good smoothies lately, such as spinach+banana+pb+milk+ice, for veggies+protein, but I have always drank it immediately after making it. does anyone know if this sort of thing would be okay to travel and wait a few hours before consuming?

thanks for the luck, dink77, I need it as this really hurts. :(

Hi Caitk17,

I know what you're talkin abou! been there! after adopting a very healthy lifestyle for a few months, i had to start my braces, my teeth were very sore and it hurt alot. The pain stayed for 7 days during which all my newly adopted eating habits were ruined!! :( because i was unable to CHEW anything, i went for chocos, puddings, ice creams..etc. But by the end of the week i found this out:

1) go for skimmed youghurt and cottage cheese ( in Egypt cottage cheese is very easy to swallow and very low calorie, dunno how it is at ur side of the world)

2) go for veggies and fruits as u normally do, the key is to stew them very well, and cut them into very small bites which you'd be able to manage without much or no chewing, almost mashed.

3)i used to boil chicken, put it in the mixer with some low fat cheese - philadelphia fat free- in addition to some parsley, salt, pepper,nutmeg, ginger, turn on the mixer, it will turn into a sort of paste which is very easy to manage. u can then eat it that way or have it with very small bites of brown soft bread which doesn't need much chewing.

4)low calorie jelly could also help

5) grapes,water melon which is very easy to swallow and packed with water

On a side note remember that you'll be in so much pain and there would be some headache, have some pain killer close because without this your mood would be ruined which might send you running to the fridge :)

Hope that was helpful :)

try some baby food if you absolutely can not eat anything solid- the fruits and veggies are decent....

• Smoothies...some good ingredients to mix and match are (skim milk, greek yogurt, plain yogurt, cottage cheese, frozen or fresh fruit, flax seeds, protein powder, nut butter, splenda (for flavoring), vanilla extract)
• applesauce
• sugar free jello
• Ensure or Boost...they also make puddings with lots of vitamins & protein
• yogurt or greek yogurt (has more protein)
• cottage cheese
• pureed veggies.  I made this delicious carrot puree...cook a bunch of cut of carrots, add lemon juice, spices, etc then puree in a food processor or blender...yum!  I bet sweet potatoes would be good too
• mashed potatoes (little or no butter, skim milk)
• soups, hot or cold
• pasta would probably be mushy enough for you to eat