Newfoundlove

I always have a couple of Quest Protein bars that I keep in my purse. They don't need refrigeration and taste really good to me. I eat one half at a time. The Premier Nutrition Protein Bars are also really good. They are a little higher in carbs but really high in protein, so it makes for a good snack. You'll probably only be able to eat half if that.

The Crystal Light Mojito flavor is really good too. Slight minty taste and i put in some fresh mint i have in my garden to give it an extra lift. Very refreshing! I drink two 32oz bottles a day this way.

Mine are getting pretty saggy and I think will look like tube socks soon. I see plastics in my future...

My surgeon and NUT said to stay away from tomato soup for two weeks or so. But you can get great flavor from pureeing any other soups (stay away from those with noodles though). I ate a lot of pureed chili (you can add a little chicken broth to it if it is too thick) and black bean soup (I just mixed a can of black beans, a tiny bit of cumin and oregano, onion powder, and chicken broth - heat it all up good, puree and it was so tasty!). I bought a Magic Bullet at Costco for $29 for pureeing, but a blender works well too!

Checking in. SW: 220 CW: 215 GW: 210

I'm almost six weeks out and I can drink reusable and some times even gulp without a problem. I've never had a problem drinking. I sipped for the first week and then was able to gradually increase so I can take larger drinks now. But I know some on this forum can't do that. Everyone is different.

LOL Nancy. Thanks for the visual.

My husband is on Vitamin D2 in a high dose as well as he was really low in Vitamin D. He says that at first, he felt really energetic and a little edgy, but after a couple of weeks after his body adjusted to it, he felt better. I take Vitamin D3, 5,000 mg daily and have for over a year. I'm not sure why your doctor said that wouldn't cut it. My doctor was really impressed with my Vitamin D levels pre-surgery so I'm hopeful they'll be okay when I get my three-month blood work done in late July.

Are you still taking a PPI like Prilocec or anything? If not, I would try that and see if it helps. For me, burping is my cue to stop eating. If I burp, and then take a bite, it's one bite to many and my stomach cramps up.

I agree with this post. I'm only six weeks out but I have added some good carbs to my diet as I am now on solid food. My usual breakfast is Greek Yogurt with fruit and my mid-morning snack is a cappuchino so the non-fat milk adds carbs. My snack in the afternoon is cucumbers spread with hummus. When I'm on the run or traveling, I throw in a protein bar that has a healthy amount of carbs. But like QueenofCrop, I don't eat pasta, rice, or bread. I could add in crackers, but right now I'm still eating so little (can't seem to get above 600 calories daily) that I don't usually have room after I get in my protein. The carbs that I am eating do not create any cravings for me. Perhaps if they were refined sugar types of carbs that would be different, but I have never really craved those anyway. The one thing that I am staying away from is wine. I absolutely loved red wine before the surgery. But I do fear that if I drink it (allowed after two months, but still discouraged by my NUT), I will crave more. So, for now at least, I will stay away from it.

I have only been sleeved for almost six weeks, but I also travel on business a bit. I'm on solid foods now. I had a business trip last week. I just ordered really healthy, high protein food at meals. One meal, I ordered the steamed clams and ate a few. No one noticed I didn't eat a lot. Another meal, I ordered meatloaf, skipped the mashed potatoes and asked for more veggies. Same thing, ate about a half cup or so of the meatloaf and a couple of bites of spinach and done. No one said anything. Another meal, I ordered fish. Fish goes down well with me. Soup is a good thing to order too If someone would have said something, I probably just would of said that I' m watching what I eat. It's none of their business about my surgery if I don't want to tell them. This weekend my husband and I went out for lunch. I ordered a chicken and cheese quesidilla. I ate the insides of two pieces and left the tortilla and then took two pieces home which my son then ate. I thought eating out would be difficult but it's not. The hardest thing is not drinking during meals, especially when you are waiting for your food.

Biotin is a very small pill, so I started taking it at four weeks out. I take two pills a day. One in the am and one in the pm.

I have a great NUT. She doesn't want me counting carbs as much as grams of sugar in each serving. 6 grams or less unless it's non-fat yogurt, and 12 grams or under for all other dairy. Because the rule is protein first, at least for now, I couldn't get a high carb count if I wanted to.

I slept in a bed from night one, I just propped myself up the first couple of nights. I also used a small, firm pillow to hold against my stomach when getting in and out of bed for the first week or so. But, I was able to sleep on my left side after the third night. Couldn't move to my right side until a week or so later as that stomach muscle was a killer.

Hi everyone. I was out of town on business so couldn't check in until today. I lost five pounds this past week! Yippee! Now at 215. Challenge goal is 210. Maybe I was too conservative in my goal setting, but it's my first challenge and I'm early out so I was not sure what to expect. Need to update my ticker.

You are right on target. I'm five weeks out now and finally can eat 4 ounces of yogurt and cottage cheese, but most anything else is still only 2 or 3 ounces (especially dense foods). I added some avocado to my cottage cheese now too (LOVE cottage cheese) and that's really helped with adding some good flavor. But to me, it feels so good to even have just a small amount of something that really tastes good. The Mushie stage was boring to me because there wasn't much I could add to vary the taste buds. Once you get on regular food, hopefully you'll feel better even though you'll still be eating small portions. Hang in there!

I use the Costco fully cooked chicken strips, cut them into bite-size pieces, add thinly sliced green onion, finely chopped celery, sliced red grapes, sliced almonds, non-fat mayo, salt, pepper and some toasted curry powder. Yum-O, and keeps in fridge for a long time.

In my pre-op nutrition class, we were told to buy demitasse spoons and cocktail forks and to use 4 ounce ramekins to hold the food for the first couple of months. I do this for everything that I eat, including yogurt, etc. Having the smaller spoons and forks really, really helps keep the bites small. I did find myself putting another bite into my mouth before I had even swallowed the first bite, so now, I put the utensil down and don't pick it up again until I have swallowed. If it's a new food I am trying, I take a bite, chew really well, swallow and wait a minute or two just to make sure it's going to settle fine. So far, everything has settled well except for Peanut Butter. But, I just started on solid foods so I'm sure there will be some other foods that I will introduce that won't be that kind to me. There rae also some foods that I used to love, that I have no desire to try now, like bananas. I also used to crave salty and savory items like nuts and chips and have absolutely no cravings any longer - which is a good thing! I can actually gulp Water down without an issue so I still tend to drink fast, but I've not had any issues with it -- not even gas, so I haven't changed that.

I had outpatient surgery, so I walked out of the surgery center to the car, then walked about every two hours, sometimes more frequently when I had gas. The hardest part for me was standing up straight because the right stomach muscle was so sore. I walked around hunched for the first day and then I found a small, firm pillow, held that to my stomach and it was easier to stand up straight without the pain. Walking also helps improve the blood flow which helps with healing too.

I had this too, but as soon as I started drinking warm fluids, (chicken broth) that helped to give me the full feeling. I used to LOVE watching the Food Network channel, but now I have no desire. It will pass.

I agree with previous comments. Don't think about what you used to be able to eat. This is going to be a new normal for you. At three weeks out I was on soft foods and my NUT included hard boiled eggs cut up in egg salad. But, also, I could only eat 1/4 cup of food at that time. I had a few instances of eating a little too fast and missing the full signal until it was almost too late, and let me tell you that you really don't want to realize that too late or you will feel like poo! So, I really did just measure everything out into 1/4 cup then 1/3 cup and eating slowly. Now, at almost five weeks out I can eat a little faster, but I still measure everything out. Most foods I can get 1/2 cup of, but not always. Sometimes, I get the signal after five bites or so and I stop. I also use very small utensils (cocktail forks and demitasse spoons) to limit the size of the bite I take. Items like dark meat chicken take me longer to eat though as I have the chew the heck out of them to get them to go down well.

Thanks for this post and to all of you who have replied. I just ordered the Genie Bras from their website - www.geniebra.com . Six bras for $59. I had spent some serious money on bras last Summer at Nordstrom and one bra was around $60 so the Genie Bra is a good value.

I'm also four weeks out and started experiencing some nausea, especially early in the morning. First thing I do now is to get a glass of water down and I've upped my water intake considerably so I am getting more than 70 ounces and that has really helped me.

I'm trying to get ready for a stall. I had a week where I only lost two pounds, but two pounds is two pounds so I didn't stress about it. I'm almost five weeks out and have lost 18 pounds and I'm happy with that. Last week I lost four pounds and was ecstatic. I know I will hit a stall, and I will just put my scale away for a week or more and perhaps just take my measurements. I really want to just power through the stalls if I can. I travel for work so maybe I'll hit a stall while I am traveling I admire you for powering through your stall - it must have made you feel great!