Hope4NewMe

Those on pureed foods, any favorite thing to eat? I'm only on day 3 and I'm loving eating food and never want to look at broth ever again. I am eating the ricotta bake and surprisingly my favorite is fat free refried beans with taco bell sauce on it. I was worried about the hot sauce but so far no issues and all the fiber is wonderful for my constipation issues that are already starting to disappear. I'm eating about 3 oz per meal but I'm eating about 4 times a day. Think my average calories is about 500. So I think I need to increase that but at the same time I'm afraid to because I don't want to stop losing. I'm having a little more trouble getting my protein in because I am only having 1 protein shake a day and I'm not really eating meat still. So I need to work on trying to add protein powder to my food. I'm afraid I won't like the taste though but I won't know until I try. Any tips or tricks for using protein powder in food? I have the isopure unflavored kind.

Good luck and keep us posted!

That's the day I had my bypass! I'm glad you are doing so well too. Maybe that day was a lucky day. I came home from the hospital weighing 7 lbs more then when I went in, so maybe your body is still just slowly losing the swelling and extra fluids from the surgery itself. You are doing great with the exercise, at least to me. I am barely up to walking half a mile every morning on my treadmill. I'm working on adding more but its slow going atm. Welcome to the group!

So my dr confirms that because its a liquid that it just flows out and they are actually happy when someone does not have restrictions to liquids because it makes hitting the water goals so much easier and dehydration is the biggest worry right at 1st. Restrictions should be more with food. He told me to eat slower now that I can have puree (yay!!!) so that maybe I can start feeling the change. He said I'm doing so well that I can progress at my own pace through the next food levels. He recommends at least 1 week of puree and 1 week of soft before getting too adventurous. If at any time I start having issues, just back up a stage and give a few more days. He wants me to still not pick up more than 20 lbs but to get back to a normal schedule and life as soon as possible. 3 weeks from now he expects me to be fully healed, able to eat real food and no restrictions on movements or weight. I almost cried at all of this good news. Just to be able to eat puree sounds amazing and free to me. To think I'll be starting my life with my new normal so soon is just amazing. 1 step and week at a time though. I have my 1st ricotta bake in the oven and I can't wait for it to be done. Today was a great day

I'm so glad you are doing so well! I too am having an easier than expected time. I am hitting my water and protein goals since getting home but I still don't know what full feels like and getting to hit those goals worries me a bit. I can somewhat feel full when drinking my protein shake, but it doesn't even feel like anything until I hit around 6 oz. Then I feel pressure but not bad pressure, no nausea, no pain. I am drinking slower on purpose, so my drink will take me like 40 to 60 min to drink, but that's more by choice then by need. I've eaten a 4 oz sugar free pudding in about 5 min and didn't feel anything either until like 40 min later and then I felt pressure. I have my drs appointment tomorrow as my one week check up after my bypass and I'm going to tell him my worries so hopefully I'll have some answers soon. As far as pain, I have been using the belly binder (wrong name) and that has pretty much kept the pain away. I have been able to sleep on my sides and roll over, even when I was in the hospital. Take it off and its a different story though lol. I hope we continue to do well and no bombs drop!

I think everything is normal because everyone is different. It could be so many things that effect weight loss. . Just keep following your program and give it more time. Everyone looses at different rates and maybe next week you will have a large loss or maybe you will be slow by steady and still reach your goal. Hugs! Its hard not to have huge losses after going through all of this. But its going to be a long journey so don't stress too much, just keep at it and every little pound will add up.

I felt the same way before my surgery. I didn't want to get to excited in case something happened and it was canceled. Sounds like you are set though! Good luck on tuesday.

Thank you so much for all the responses on what it feels like to be full! This is such a great group of people. I'm going to try and relax, measure my liquids and trust the process.

For those who have had the surgery already, what does full feel like? I'm so scared of eating/drinking too much and ruining all this hard work. I'm still taking the pain meds so I don't know if that is masking the signal but I'm not sure what I'm exactly looking for. Before surgery I don't know if I really ever felt full without it being over full. Like thanksgiving stuffed equaled full. I don't want to over stuff myself ever again but its hard to know when to stop.

I'm back from my bypass. They were going to let me go after the 1st night but I was having trouble eating any food. Everything I tried to swallow except for water felt like I was trying to swallow acid. Luckily it did get better by the second night and today is even better. I have not hit my water or protein goals but I wasn't expecting to be able to do that so soon. I am surprised at how much I can drink though. I don't have to take tiny sips, my normal pre surgery swallowing amount still works. I am not hungry but I also can't tell when I'm full either. From what I have read and seen, 2 oz should be the size of my stomach but I can hold more. I asked my dr about it and he said it was a good thing and that it will help me reach my water and protein goals better. I asked him if maybe my stomach was left too big and he says he makes everyone's stomach the same size because they use a guide instrument. He says I will start feeling the restriction much more after I can start eating more solid foods. He also thinks that I can move to pureed food after my drs appointment next week. I thought I was on liquids for 2 weeks but I'll take only one week as long as things go well. In the meantime I'm still limiting myself to 2 oz to make sure that I don't stretch anything. As far as recovery is going, I'm doing better than I thought I would. The only really bad pain was when I was waking up after the surgery. I was still so groggy that I couldn't open my eyes but I could hear the nurse and she kept giving me doses of pain meds until I was comfortable. After that I was moved to my room. I was soooo happy to find out that they were letting my husband stay with me. Poor guy had to sleep in a reclining chair but at least he got to stay. He was amazing help when trying to get out of bed to go to the bathroom and to walk the halls. I did not get bad gas pains but I still have a lot of bloating but I can tell its inside because I can hear it travelling the loops of my intestine (sorry of that tmi) I have been taking gas x but its not being too effective yet. Its a tolerable pain though so I just have to get through it. Another tmi is that I still haven't had any bowel movements but the nurse wasn't worried and I honestly haven't eaten that much so maybe there isn't anything to go. The weekend before surgery while on the liquid diet I had the worst constipation and that finally broke the night before surgery. So maybe I was cleaned out enough that I have nothing to go atm. I have laxatives if needed and I my dr approved fiber powder to add to my liquids if I wanted to. I did request a belly binder is what I've called it, but its got a better name that I can't think of atm lol. It is amazing with how much it lessens the pain of moving. Getting out and into bed has been the hardest but once I got that on, I haven't taken it off. So now I just have to get all my liquids in and figure out what full feels like. I'm very happy not to feel hungry and also happy that so far I'm still ok with the taste of my premier protein shakes. I was going to be sad if I couldn't drink anymore of my pumpkin spice shakes. Sorry for the book but I am a talker lol

Tomorrow is finally the day! I haven't even packed my bag yet but I don't plan on taking much anyway. My biggest fear is that they won't let my husband stay with me overnight. We live over an hour away from the hospital so it would not be fun for him to be driving up only for visiting hours. Plus we both want to be together so it would cause a lot of anxiety if they won't let him stay. I am scheduled for my bypass at 9am so at least I don't have to get up too early. Not looking forward to the gas pain after surgery but so ready to finally have this surgery done. I started this process in Dec, so it's a long time coming. Also tired of the liquid diet so one step closer to real food is great. I'm even looking forward to pureed food at this point. Before I was sooo grossed out by the thought of it. I'm not even hungry on the liquid diet anymore but I'm bored with the same flavors and my intestines have not been happy on a high protein no fiber diet. Just ready to start my new life and eventually get back to a new normal. Can't wait to see what life looks and feels like in 3 months, so exciting! I think a lot of us have surgery tomorrow so good luck to us all and speedy recovery.

Sounds like you are doing great! I'm still on the liquid diet until my surgery monday so those food sound amazing.

Sorry you had such a rough time! Glad you will get more time to rest and heal.

I'm glad you are feeling better! I'm getting worried about the pain but it seems that if I take the pain meds and it only lasts a few days then I'll be ok. Just have to get through it. I love the premier so I hope I don't hate it after my surgery. I bought some fairlife just in case but I don't like milk so we'll see. Sorry you are having acid issues. I already have acid issues normally which is why I'm going for the bypass. Hopefully yours will settle down soon. Thank you for all the insight, it really helps!

How are you feeling now? Is it easier to hit your goals yet? How about the pain? I hear that some people don't like sweet flavors after surgery, did you get this? Sorry for all the questions lol.

I'm so sorry to hear about your rough night. Hopefully today will be better! Is it the gas pain that is so bad or the incisions themselves? Both? I have a very low pain tolerance so I'll definitely take your advice and keep up on those meds. I stay in the hospital for 2 to 3 days though, so hopefully they can give me good stuff. Hugs!

Glad all is going well so far! Thank you for the update and rest well.

Good luck to everyone tomorrow! I hope everything goes smoothly and a fast recovery. Update when you can and can't wait to hear about your successes. On a side note, those of you who can drink premier protein shakes and who love pumpkin spice, they have it as a limited flavor in Amazon. The smallest batch I could find was a 12 pack but I took the risk and bought it and I'm happy I did. Its soo yummy! I do like sweet things though and anything pumpkin spice though.

I did leggings and a tight t-shirt and I'm planning on doing monthly photos with that same outfit. I didn't do my face, I should do that.

I am also having the bypass on the 19th. There are quite a few who posted that they were having it on the 19th too so we'll have lots of company. The 12th is I think the winner for the most people though. Getting close! I have a split liver shrinking diet where the 1st week I could have 1 small meal and then 2 meals replaced with shakes. So tomorrow will be my last small meal and then its liquids only until at least a week after surgery for me. This 1st week has not been bad at all, so fingers crossed next week will go as smoothly.

Can't believe its almost time! Wishing you a safe surgery and quick recovery!

Today is only day 3 of my liquid diet but so far it's going well. These protein drinks are actually keeping me full and I'm not really hungry. I've now tried 6 different flavors of premier protein shakes and my favorite by far is the chocolate peanut butter one. I can't taste the protein and its like having a treat. This week I drink 2 shakes a day so I have one shake for breakfast and then I save my second one for an after dinner desert. I have broth for lunch but so far that has not been very enjoyable. I've tried 3 different broths and they are ok, but I don't like salt and they all seem salty to me and its a struggle to even drink one cup of it. I have a few more flavors to try so hopefully at least one of them will be ok. What I have tried is Millie's sipping broth the taco soup and Thai lemon grass flavors. Both have tons of flavor to them so no complaints there. The lemon grass was the better one but I still struggled with both and I think its because of the salt. Then I tried making and straining a can of vegetable beef soup and I added extra water to thin it out in hopes of less salt and that was ok, but still hard. So I guess I need to buy and try some low salt varieties or go through the effort to make my own. I also found out that I love the flavors of the cheap walmart jello cups (Winky Sugar Free Gelatin) but my favorite the black cherry flavor really upsets my stomach which makes me sad. Any suggestions for a low salt broth would be appreciated

I'm so glad the surgery went well! Good to know that walking helped the gas pain a lot. I hope that things keep getting better every day. Thank you for the update!

Congrats!! Sorry that you are still having headaches but 11 pounds in just a week is awesome. How have you dealt with having to cook food you want to eat? Lots of positive vibes for a safe and successful surgery and a fast recovery!

So I just started my liquid diet today and at 1st I was freaking out because I'm allowed 1 small meal a day plus the 2 protein shakes and a list of other approved things. But I thought I had to stay under 800 calories and I didn't realize how many calories are in everything including the protein shakes themselves (160). So I went through everything that is allowed on my list and was trying to figure out what I could even eat for dinner and leave me enough calories for lunch and it was not going well. Luckily I re read my diet sheet and the calorie restriction doesn't hit until my second week, yay! So for this 1st week I still only have liquids except for dinner so I'm sure my calories will be less that usual but I'll have time to adjust before I hit that 800 calorie limit next week. The exact wording for the dinner is one small, normal meal and we are having pork chops with asparagus so I think I will be ok. As a side question fueled by my stressful morning, how do I calculate the calories in the broth from a strained soup? Say I take a can of chicken noodle soup but strain it and only drink the broth, how do I figure out the calories in that broth?