KarenOR

I have the caramel soft chews from Celebrate and they aren't chalky. I'm pretty sensitive to the grit. These are smooth.

Trader Joes: Riced cauliflower. Frozen spiral carrots. Cauliflower pizza crust.

Ask for something to help. There are lots of things they can try. Good luck.

Damn, so close to an elephant's penis!

Right now, my plan is less than 100g of carbs. I'm usually around 60ish just depends. I eat around 80g of protein. So far that seems to work well, but I would never get that much without shakes, not yet anyway.

Trader Joe's makes a frozen cauliflower crust. Tried it last night. It's not bad actually. But you need to definitely toast it up well first!

I had it all the time and still on occasion.

Me too! Full size air heads. Bleck.

At my post-op, they moved to stage 3 foods, which is puréed, blended, really soft stuff. I guess it is still solid, as long as its soft.

OMG! I hear you! I've already told my kids, they can keep a small container and the rest gets traded or donated. I'm a huge chocolate fan. I cannot have it here. We do this anyway, so it's not new to them. We live in a neighborhood that gives full size bars. No one needs that! This is going to be brutal for me. I'm glad I'm just one month out so not really eating regularly yet.

Yeah, I can relate. I'm on soft foods still. Nothing really tastes good. Eating because I have to but also because my stomach is literally growling. It's not head hunger, either. By the time I'm going to bed, I literally am so hungry! I always debating getting out of bed and going upstairs. I really thought it was supposed to kill hunger. I can eat a few ounces of chicken but then I'm hungry with 2 hours.

THIS! (citizenlizzie, fellow Oregonian here)

I would think short term. Take whatever you have to take to get through this period and then you can evaluate. If the pain meds help, do it to get over the hurdle. Hang in there!

You've done awesome! I turned 50 and realized I had to have a more permanent tool. I was so great at the yo-yo, my entire life since I was probably 6. It always came back and more. I chose the sleeve because I didn't want anything rearranged Maybe dumb, but it just sounded better to me. I suffered from GERD during pregnancy and after the birth of my daughter. I'm taking meds and it's been okay. I don't know how it will be long term but I'm pretty fine with it 4 weeks out. As for knees, have you tried water fitness? I love it. I have a waterproof ipod and I just get there and run in the deep water with a belt. I've done classes for probably 20 years, too. Something to think about if you have a pool available. Keep on keepin' on!

How did it go? Did you put rocks in your pockets?

Yep. I was proactive in the hospital and had a patch behind my ear and a few meds. I think the morphine that first afternoon after surgery made it worse so I stopped it. I had the shakes and my teeth were chattering from that, too. Bleck. Can you do the patch behind your ears? What about trying Sea Bands? You wear them on your wrists and they have little accupressure balls. I find that they help me tremendously in the car, where I tend to get the most sick.

I was very selective about telling friends for this reason. I have one very good friend who is also fat and I decided not to tell her. She knows that I've been working out all summer and eating well, but I just couldn't go over that hurdle. Since you did tell this friend and she seems to want to sabotage you, or at least be really obnoxious about food, then I would let her know and if she persists, put that friendship on hold for a while. I completely understand not wanting to have people change their lives for you, but YOU are changing your own life for the better and you have to make decisions about what things might interfere with that. Hell, I'm making my family "suffer" along with me. Even though, I didn't buy a lot of junk, I've even dialed back on things like crackers and goldfish right now. My poor children have cut up fruit and veggies in the fridge. I can't even eat that yet. I never thought I would miss raw veggies ! You can do it. Remember you are #1!

I"m pretty sure that 4 popsicles is not a problem. 4 boxes? Maybe a problem, but I would say only because of the artificial sweeteners .

There have been a whole bunch of posts about this. If you search for them, you can read without having to wait for knowledgeable and experienced people to respond.

Yep. I'm doing well . I can easily drink the protein shakes and am doing okay with soft foods, too. It takes a while, honestly. Don't sweat it. Don't force it. The timeline is general. Everyone is different and every doctor has a different strategy. I sort of half transitioned into soft foods, like I ate something one day and not the next, until I felt comfortable with it. The whole not drinking water before and after is a challenge for me. Like I said, it does get better! Hang in there!

Yep, it's been said. Lapbands are out, if not on their way out. Way too many complications.

I did the same thing to my soups. It's fine.

I am not working right now, which is one reason I did it now. But, I cannot imagine going back at 6 days. I wasn't home until the morning of day 4. I was also told not to lift anything over a gallon of milk for 6 weeks. That would be hard to stick to while waitressing.

I think that totally depends on your surgeon and hospital.

My pre-op diet felt like fasting. That was enough for me!