AlysonRR

My standard lunch since starting solids about two months ago has been a sandwich made with Mountain Bread. It's a low fat, low carb flatbread - very thin but flexible - that I found first at Trader Joe's, and now at my local grocer. At first I ate a whole flatbread - lately (as my restriction increased) I've been cutting them in half. I smear it with 1-2tsp light mayo, layer 4-5 pieces of thin deli meat and 1/2 cup spinach, and roll it up. After I eat that I can sometimes eat 1/4-1/2 of a piece of fruit.

I don't particularly like sweet beverages, but I can drink the iced tea one, disliked the strawberry kiwi (though my 6-y.o. sweets lover really likes it), and haven't tried pink lemonade yet. I think South Beach has a line of drink powders, too - not sure if they're similar in protein/fiber content.

Oh, and here's another idea - my kids really like these: Inarizushi: sushi in a bean bag | Just Hungry I get the fried bean curd at an Oriental grocer.

I'd only use raw fish that's sold as sashimi-grade, and I've only seen that in Hawaii and in Japanese grocery stores in the city, not anywhere local to me. I make sushi at home using cooked crab (my parents can catch crab in the Water in front of their house!), smoked salmon from Costco, and barbecued eel (unagi) from the freezer section of a whole foods type grocery in a nearby town. I also make tamago (Tutorial: Making tamagoyaki or Japanese rolled egg | lunch in a Box: Building a Better Bento) for nigiri. Hope that helps! Have a fun party :-)

I've been doing better since I started having Kashi GoLean and/or Fiber One Cereal pretty much every day. I could handle 1/3-1/2 cup mixed with Fage or Oikos Greek yogurt (which also has fiber) until a couple days ago - I think my fill has kicked in and I could only handle 1/4 cup today. My liquid Vitamin has some fiber in it. For the last 6 weeks or so I've been averaging about 12g fiber, which isn't the 25 you're "supposed" to get, but I figured it was pretty good for my intake. The days I do best are the days when I have my vitamin, high fiber cereal, two veg servings, and a fruit serving. I really prioritize getting veg/fruit after I fit in my protein!

I held my 6-y.o. daughter on my lap yesterday without having to elevate my leg so she wouldn't slip off. There was room on my leg for all of her! I walked up the stairs to my kids' gym observation deck quickly (though hauling myself with the rails, still) instead of my pre-band painfully slow one-step-at-a-time speed.

Anyone know of women who have been beaten or murdered because they're pregnant? I do. Every woman's situation is not ideal for bringing a child into the world... Some women would not choose abortion; some women (like the girl who committed suicide) should not.

I was on Medifast for two weeks prior to surgery, and I didn't feel particularly hungry. I had 5 Medifast meals (shakes, oatmeal, Soup, powdered eggs) and a "lean green" meal (5-6oz lean Protein plus 2 cups of green vegies). You're not hungry because high protein diets have a satiety effect. I don't know how much you're losing vs. how much you expected to lose, but my doctor said he wanted to see me lose 10 pounds on the two-week pre-op diet. I lost about 13 pounds in the two weeks, but I started at a BMI of just above 60, so my body was primed to lose Low carb diets also cause ketosis which is what's making your mouth taste yucky. My only suggestion would be to switch from gum to sugar-free mints after your surgery. I swallowed a piece of gum about 2 weeks after surgery (trying to get the yucky taste out of my mouth) and it was stuck for at least a week... Good luck!

I really like the cottage cheese that comes flavored with chives. I've tried just adding chives to plain cottage cheese, but I didn't like it as well.

I want to share that I was pretty crippled at my high pre-band weight (a little under 350); I was using a cane almost all the time and even with it couldn't walk much. After losing ~25lb I felt less pain, and now, with ~45lb lost, I'm much more active, can manage walking on uneven surfaces (like the beach), and can walk further without pain. So I imagine you'll feel a lot better with even a 10-15% loss. Good luck with your surgery.

I went to a French-inspired restaurant the other night and had two selections from the amuse bouche (sp?) menu (~1 oz food each) and an appetizer (2 large scallops with garnish). It was perfect! we both drank wine (not during the meal for me!) and hubby got dessert, and we tipped as though we had ordered two Entrees. When we go to regular restaurants I just take the leftovers home for another meal or two (or three!). I feel amazed when my husband finishes a whole huge restaurant portion (plus bread!) - it amuses me that I'm amazed since I would have eaten the same pre-band... I think the only time I would use the card (I got mine at my first fill appointment) is at a buffet.

I wish I'd heard of and had Lap-Band surgery instead of my last diet, a medically supervised program that cost ~$4K for 12 weeks of intensive work and a few followups (I had to quit because we moved), and which resulted in a 25 lb loss followed by a 50 lb gain. I wish I hadn't spent so much time immediately post-op trying different Protein powder and obsessing over amounts of liquid and protein, I could have just drunk 3 tolerable tasting shakes a day and gotten my tastes fulfilled with chicken broth or carrot-ginger Soup or some other clear soup. That's what I do now during my two days of post-fill liquid, and it's much less stressful! I wish I had been more active after surgery. It took me a while to get back on a regular schedule and I think I would have felt better sooner if I had gotten off the couch more often! I wish I had weaned off the narcotic pain meds on day three instead of day seven - my pain probably would have been managed with Tylenol and I wouldn't have had so much nausea (I thought it was band-related, but in retrospect it was the codeine!). I wish I hadn't tried spicy soup on day 3 post-op - ouch! I wish I hadn't chewed gum and accidentally swallowed it a couple days after starting mushies, cause I had to go back on liquids! Good luck with your surgery!

I spent a lot of time while on the liquid post-op diet trying to find ways to tolerate Protein shakes. I found two, a chocolate (EAS Advantage) and a vanilla (Designer Whey) that I can tolerate by adding a shot or two of sugarfree DaVinci syrup, and/or some fruit. But after starting soft then solid foods I only have Protein Shakes for two days after a fill. I can stand three a day for two days without a problem. Some of the protein powders I tried tasted better when they sat, mixed with the DaVinci syrup, for awhile in the refrigerator before I drank them. Others tasted better when mixed with soy milk (I don't use regular milk, but the principle is the same) compared to Water. Kind of rambling - I think the answer is no, you don't really need protein shakes, but they are an efficient way of getting adequate protein during times when you're restricted to liquids.

Have you tried the strained Greek yogurts that are popping up in grocery stores lately? The two brands I can find out here in WA are Fage and Oikos - they each have ~20g Protein per half cup, are pretty low in carbs, and their texture is quite different from typical yogurt. I like the 0% Fage, but their 2% variety isn't much higher in fat and I've heard it has a better texture. There's another brand in our area - I think it's Greek Gods? - but it doesn't have the high protein so I haven't tried it yet. I like mine mixed half and half with Kashi GoLean and/or Fiber One Cereal and a little honey.

For softer food I use pyrex 6-oz "custard" cupa. I measure my eggs and milk (or eggbeaters) into a cup so I know the portion size before I make my omelet. For more solid foods, I have 8-oz plastic boxes - mine are bento boxes, but you can use tupperware-type containers, like those from Lock&Lock or Snapware. I don't measure everything, particularly at restaurants, but since I've loaded these boxes with meals for weeks I'm pretty good at visualizing a 1/2-1 cup portion. When I make sushi at home each roll has 1/3-1/2 cup rice and 1-2 oz filling. Rice doesn't interest me much anymore (who'da thunk it?) so I usually order edamame and sashimi or teriyaki tofu (yum). Hope that helps -

It's on the My Plate page. It's a Gold Membership only option. The link is titled "Week-at-a-Glance View". HTH!

The paid Gold membership version of The Daily Plate has mobile access. What I find easiest about TDP is the "my foods" look-up, where I can search all the foods I've previously entered or just click on the foods from a "my foods" list. Also, the Week View let's me drag and drop food items from one day to another. But mostly what I like is that I haven't had to enter more than two or three items - even the most esoteric item seems to have been entered by someone. That wasn't the case at SparkPeople - I had to enter at least two or three items a day there. I must eat weird stuff, lol. What I don't like about TDP is that since the data are entered by users, occasionally someone will change the data on an item and affect my calculations. And their recipe calculations never turn out correct for me.

Congratulations, Mary! I can't wait to join you in Twoterville

One of my favorite mushies is baked ricotta. In a small (2 c) Pyrex dish, mix 1/2c ricotta with a tbsp of eggbeaters and 1/2 oz parmesan cheese. Top it with 1/4 c tomato sauce and 1/2 oz mozzarella. Bake at 350 until lightly browned. Like lasagna without the noodles - yum!

Now I don't have much restriction yet, so my choices may change as a result of the next fill or two, but for now these are my standard breakfast choices: Eggbeaters or eggwhite omelet (1/4-1/2c) with cheese (1oz) or cottage cheese (1/8-1/4c) and 1/4c veg One or two scrambled hard-boiled eggs and a little fruit Scrambled egg and cheese and salsa or chopped tomato/onion wrapped in mountain bread Egg salad in lettuce leafs Egg sandwich: fried egg, 1/2 oz cheese, morningstar vegie sausage patty, in a mini pita Kashi oatmeal (has 9 g protein) 1/4-1/2c Kashi GoLean or Fiber one mixed with an equal amount of Fage or Oikos greek yogurt (greek yogurt has ~20g protein/cup) and a tiny bit of honey Crustless muffin-tin quiche which has egg, cheese, vegies, and maybe crumbled up vegie sausage patty cottage cheese pancakes (very rare!) Hope that helps :-)

Totally agree. I find that cloth is so much more comfortable!

I've been eating a cup of salad greens almost every day since a couple days after I started on the post-op solid food stage. I've had two fills so far and usually start back with my daily greens a couple days after each fill. So far I haven't had a problem, though I'm not particularly restricted. Hope that helps -

After a fill I typically have three 4-8oz Protein drinks a day and one or two 4 oz servings of Soup (Ginger Cashew Carrot from Pacific Foods is my new fave) and one or two servings of Special K iced tea w/protein. I drink chocolate (EAS) but only with added sugarfree DaVinci syrup: peppermint, hazelnut, coconut, caramel, orange, raspberry, chocolate. Sometimes I add berries or canned peaches. My favorite new vanilla Protein Drink is to mix it with 4 oz soymilk then add 4 oz sugarfree oregon chai concentrate. I also like to make fruit smoothies with added vanilla protein, or just add some of the Da Vinci syrup (hazelnut, cinnamon, raspberry, caramel). Not the most interesting "meals", but it's only two days... Good luck on your fill - hope it's a good one for you :-)

He's in Olympia, but also does surgery in Bremerton and Shelton. I linked his website a couple posts down.

I like EAS chocolate - haven't found vanilla yet, but haven't looked very hard. I have Designer Whey vanilla - it's okay - I think it's better than unjury, but I know tastes vary widely...