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I just wrote a huge log and found out that I was not logged in. So, I am going to do the short version now.http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/faint.gif I had my lap band surgery on March 15th, 2007. It is now three days later and all is well. My incisions are painful when I move. The port incision is red and sore. I am going to call Barix in a few minutes to make sure that it okay. I gained nine pounds in the hospital and have lost seven of them so far. Today I have eaten half of a banana-milk-yogurt-sugar-free chocolate sauce shake, half of a chicken broth and a few sips of water. In a few minutes, I plan to finish the broth, drink more water and have a sugar-free fudge pop.

Here is the Liver Shrink Diet my Surgeon and Nutritionist gave me to follow pre-op: Liver Shrink Diet Remember: Vegetables ar unlimited on this diet. (except potatoes, corn, beans, and peas. Breakfast Protein Shake or Protein Bar (You may use any shake as long as it has 220 or less calories and 10g or less fat/serving) Mid Morning Snack 1 small piece of fruit (if you have Diabetes add 4 oz low-fat yogurt) Lunch Protein Bar (220 calories of less and 10g or less of fat) or Shake Mid Afternoon Snack 1 small piece of fruit (add 4 oz low-fat yogurt if you have Diabetes) Dinner 3 oz meat (lean) - The size of a deck of cards steamed vegetables or salad with Fat-free salad dressing 6 unsalted crackers or 2 slices low calorie bread or 1 small baked potato 1/2 c fruit or 1 small piece of fruit Evening Snack 1 small piece of fruit (add 4 oz low-fat yogurt if you are Diabetic) (You may have non-caloric beverages on this diet) NO ALCOHOL!!!!!!!! Examples: Decaf. Tea, Crystal Light, Sugar-free Kool-Aid, Water Follow This 1 Day Prior To Surgery: Clear liquids only including Jello, broth, juice, and any beverages listed above. Jello can be congealed, but do not put fruit in it it. (NO RED JELLO) & NOTHING TO EAT PAST MIDNIGHT (of course). This is just what my surgeon and nutritionist gave me. Of course everyone's seems different but I just thought I would give you something to go on.

I'm 3 1/2 months post-op. Breakfast: 8 oz. unsweetened vanilla almond milk with 1 scoop Isopure Dutch chocolate. Mid-morning: 5 oz. Greek yogurt with 2 oz. berries. If I'm busy, I skip this and have a cup of coffee with 2% milk. Lunch: 2 - 3 oz. of left-over dinner. Dinner: 2 - 3 oz. Protein with a bit of veg. Dessert: 1 Atkins bar.

Well the good news is its never too late to get started. I also recommend joining my fitness pal, it makes me accountable to myself. Also there is a 5 day cleanse on this site specifically for the VGs I think it was posted by littlemissdiva. After that the eatting pattern you should follow is protein first, then veggies, and if you have room then you can have carb, more than likely you won't have much room for much carbs. Choose smarter snacks, string cheese, greek yogurt, fresh fruit. Also I really recommend getting really involved in a support group, wether online or physical one is up to you. Best of luck, and please don't give up.

I’m exactly one week post-op and pretty tired of being on a liquid diet, starting to hate the taste of yogurt lol. I feel pretty good and have had very little pain, nausea and I'm feeling like I can move on the pureed foods already. I been eating mashed potatoes but been craving pureed meats, but I’m afraid that I may need to stay on this liquid diet the doctor wants me on post-op for another week. I feel that I have recouped very well and possibly faster than others from surgery so far and feel my ability to start on the purred diet is possible even a week after surgery. I guess I want to get back to eating solids ASAP. So my question is can I or should I start experimenting with purred foods only one week after surgery or is this a no no?

Our recommended diets vary quite a bit......at 9 days out I was still on full liquids (shakes, yogurt)......at 14 days out I was allowed to have pureed foods, 21 days out I should have been on soft foods, but nothing sat well unless it was pureed with a stick blender......a month out I was able to switch over to real foods, but sometimes that didn't sit well, and I pureed a few items. I think somewhere between 2 & 3 months things got much easier......if it doesn't feel good, try pureeing them.........they should be moist. I now use my crock pot weekly, and the moist Protein from there is so much easier to digest...... Hope this helps! Good luck. (PS my tummy stopped grumbling for the most part recently--around 3 months)

I agree you probably didn't gain 1 1/2 pounds of fat. However potato is a bad choice. My doctor said to choose high protein mushies low fat cottage or ricotta cheese, greek yogurt (use splendra to taste as it is very sour). Week two I could have canned chicken and tuna mixed with low fat laughing cow cheese.

Thanks Valentina! Day 4 also has gone well so far, expect for my thoughts of going to buy burgers and pizza. I have maintained for today by just having a yogurt with my three Protein shakes and Water. I just want the 25th to hurry up. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

This is from my Kaiser SoCal paperwork for Stage 3 - Soft Foods - Days 15 - 30. You can drink all that you had in Phase 1 and 2, plus now you can add the following: mashed potatoes thinned with light milk alternative well-cooked yams without skin steamed or poached fish, moist tuna, ground chicken/turkey soft veggie burgers low fat Beans chicken - shredded and moistened with broth scrambled egg whites or egg substitute, soft cooked or poached (not fried) greek yogurt, cottage or ricotta cheese low-fat or nonfat cheese string cheese non-fat feta cheese applesauce (unsweetened) ripe bananas soft, canned fruit in juice (pour out juice) all soft, well-cooked veggies except fibrous ones like celery and asparagus, corn seasonings - herbs ok

I'm doing great!!! no nausea or anything, getting all my water and stuff. Pre op diet is just 3 days yogurt and water. I didn't lose anything pre op LOL I had a great experience with Dr Ponce and Trish! if you haven't already check out my pics in the link in my signature, it really helped me to feel more comfortable after seeing a couple other people's photos on here

It's been a while since I have blogged. I've been out of town and living in a hotel for the past week trying to finish up all of my clinical hours. Staying to pureed foods has been difficult, but the hotel I stayed in had a fridge and a microwave in the room, so that made things a bit easier. First couple days of being on my feet and seeing patients all day was super tiring, and I crashed as soon as I got back to the hotel. We have also had drug reps bringing us lunch every day and that has been a huge challenge. I've stayed under 1200 calories every day, averaging around 800-900, but those drug rep lunches just about killed me. I had brought my own food and everything, but I was just so darn sick of tomato soup, yogurt and jello. One day the rep brought boston market and I ended up eating a little less than a cup of stuffing (it was really soft and mushie). Some people in the clinic have noticed how small my servings are, but they accept my excuse of having been sick and trying to not eat too much to lose weight. I am going to go to the gym for the first time since before surgery today. I'll probably just try walking on the treadmill or something else easy. I can't wait to get back to spin class and to be able to ride my bike again! Still waiting to see the scale move down after my initial 15 lb loss....trying to be patient

Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee with splash of half/half and 1T of splenda...out of truvia and had splenda in the cabinet. No denero to shop right now. 2 eggs scrambled with 1T of cream cheese, splash of heavy whipping cream, salt, pepper, 1tsp chives and minced onion, topped with 2 T cheese. 2 very tiny turkey sausge patties. Lunch: Tuna muffins: 2 6-ounce cans tuna or salmon, drained well 2 eggs 1/4 cup celery, chopped fine, 1 ounce 2 tablespoons onion, chopped fine, 1/2 ounce 1/4 cup green pepper, minced, 1 ounce 2 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded Salt and pepper, to taste Pinch Old Bay seasoning Mix all of the ingredients and spoon into 6 well-greased muffin cups. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes until puffed, set and lightly browned around the edges. (1 muffin has 12g protien and 1g of carbs.) Dinner: Turkey burger with no bun (of course) side salad with oil and vinegar. Desert chocolate peanut butter fudge. 1 square of bakers choc. 1T butter 2T of natural peanut butter 1/2 c. of splenda or whatever sugar sub you prefer. I like truvia best. 1T heavy cream Melt choc/butter/PB in microwave. Mix until creamy, add sugar sub and cream. mix thoroughly until creamy smooth. Fridge overnight. 1small spoonful is enough to curb the sweets need. also: 1 bag of frozen strawberries or raspberries 1 cup of plain greek yogurt 1/3 c of sugar sub squirt of lime juice Put in food processor until completely mixed. Eat or put in freezer to make mock ice cream. I am drinking water and MIO like crazy. I take one pack of "one the go" vitamin C with multivitamin and chew 1 centrum multivitamin I know the fat content may look high, but I am more concerned about getting my protein in right now. Now, time to go figure out whats on tomorrows menu.

Breakfast: Plain greek yogurt w/vanilla whey protien, raspberries and splash of lime juice Lunch: Taco salad Dinner: Spaghetti with dreamfields pasta 2c. of coffee 1c. of green tea 64 oz of water with mio

My condolences of the passing of your grandmother, she sounds like she was a nice person. If you sad, tired, sick , sore, mad, upset it seems like a good idea to eat to make yourself feel better. We have all been there, done that and know it doesn’t help in the long run or even the short term. I will give you the kick in the pants you need/want put down the fried chicken have some yogurt, soup or cereal till you can get some good lean protein. Hurting yourself won’t help you and i am sure your grandmother wouldn’t want you to use her passing as an excuses to fall off the wagon. But since you did don’t beat yourself up...we are in this for a long run....one small slip up doesn’t matter as long as we learn from it and try not to repeat it I have lost all of my grandparents and parents it doesn’t get any easier but the pain does fade and you can celebrate their lives (with good for you food—possible a small drink) Hang in there it will get better

I was lactose intolerant before the surgery - however, it affected me differently (out the other end) and I didn't throw up - so there were times when I would suffer the consequences and eat some ice cream -- however, I don't like throwing up so I will now pass on ice cream. I tried lactaid before surgery and it didn't really seem to make a difference in the reaction my body had to ice cream so I gave up on it. I don't care to drink milk at all and I actually can enjoy my Golden Spoon frozen yogurt as much as I did ice cream. I can't tolerate much of anything sweet as it is soooo very sweet tasting to me.

I just had to call my nutritionist because of the same thing! Its totally normal. The reason you can eat what feels like 'too much' is because you have an empty band.Once you get your fill, that'll subside. If its too tempting to eat more than you should, sub in a heavy duty protein shake (add yogurt, fruit, ice, etc so it feels substantial). Good work on the 20 that you're down!

Here is what I eat (mostly), I looked into the Lindora but it seemed like a diet, I think I needed a different way to eat so I didn't do it, now if I could just get them to stop emailing me! Breakfast is usually 1 of 3 things. 1) 1 egg and 1 piece of bacon 2) EAS low carb Protein Shake 3) Jachut's Green smoothie (1 cup Water, 1 cup fresh spinach, 1/2 banana, 1/2 apple, 1 scoop unjury unflavored Protein Powder pureed in blender) Snack, If I am hungry I have either 1) 1 cheese stick string cheese 2) Laughing cow light cheese wedge with 6 crackers 3) Greek yogurt 4) EAS shake lunch 1) A piece of fish (4 Oz by weight) 2) Leftover meat from the night before, (2 Oz if beef) 3) If I am busy at work, Starkist Lunch to go or a can of sardines with 6 crackers. I add a veggie to one of the meats above either leftovers from the night before or canned that I can heat up easily at work. Afternoon Snack I choose 1 from the snack list above dinner (usually cooked on the grill) 1) Beef 2 Oz 2) chicken 4 Oz 3) Fish 4 Oz 4) Pork 2 Oz I measure my meat by weight and my veggies by measure cup. We cut up fresh veggies and put them on the grill too. I make sweet potato's in the microwave and eat 1/2 of it with butter. I usually have 1/2 cup veggies and 1/2 cup carb.

I love food, I mean really love food (which is why I hit 247). I have always been a foodie. While sweets were never a huge pull for me, I find myself wanting them more now, but I have managed to stay away from them except special occassions. I am and always have been a protein / carb girl. I am mildly adventurous, willing to try new foods and such. Since being banded I have found I like: Greek Yogurt, couscous, beans. I eat a lot more fish (talapia, salmon, mackeral). Being that I love to cook I am always researching new things and new ways of cooking. I still, however, do enjoy going out to eat. What I like best is having someone else clean the kitchen! Last night, Valentines, the hub wanted to go to the 1st resturant we ever went to. That resturant is On the Border, which serves southwest style food. I love southwest/mexi, but it is loaded with salt and calories. I downloaded the nutrition and was shocked the my southwest chicken taco's were 1200 calories- ouch. I found that the fajita mix was a better choice, I was able to order the chicken with grilled onion, pepper, zuchini, with no sides (beans, rice, tortillas). I ate just the meat and veggie and ask for sauce on the side (which I only used a bit of). Since I hadn't been there since surgery this really showed how my eating has changes. Before surgery I would eat the meat, veggies, rice, beans, tortillas and a dessert. Last night I wasn't even able to get down all of the meat and veggies. Wow, what a change. My husband said he was so proud of me. I went home feeling good and not over stuffed. Yes, this morning my weight was up by a pound, the salt really worked on me. So today I am drinking my water like a made woman and cutting the salt back. I guess this is what life should be like, not giving up the food we love, just cutting back on the amount and making adjustment for the bad stuff. What in the heck did I learn this years ago??

March 22nd it will be 9 months since I was banded. I have lost right at 52 lbs, which puts me half way to goal. I have learned so much in these 9 months. I use to say, gee I don't know why I am so fat, I don't eat that much. Well, I have learned better. In 9 months I have made meals at home, had the major holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, traveled for work, and eaten out. What did I learn- I WAS lazy. I DID eat a lot! So what has changed.... My MIL purchased me a fitbit for my birthday in November. This counts my steps, flights of stairs taken and calculated my calories burned based on my age and weight. When I started with the fitbit I was taking about 4500 steps a day, this shocked me, I really thought it was more. Now during the week I take between 7-8000 steps on weekends 10-12000. So I have increase my activity. I am busy like most of you out there who work full time and have a house and hubs and 4 creatures in my house. So how did I increase my steps: At work instead of calling a co-worker in the same building on the phone, I walk to their office. Instead of calling kids down to my office, I walk to their classroom and pull them out (we have a HUGE campus with 3 floors so I get stairs and steps). I park further from the door at the grocery store or mall (except when it rains, because I really don't like being wet). I play with my dogs- walk them, run around the house with them, play fetch. When I cook dinner I dance around the kitchen (my husband I come to this of this as entertainment). Of course my food intake has changed, because if I want to lose weight it has to! While I use to believe I ate healthy and didn't eat much, I found out differently. Now I read labels, look for less processed foods, lower sodium and lower calorie. I do choose to eat carbs, but I look for complex carbs (whole wheats, couscous, whole grain, sweet potato) that burns energy just to process. I choose lean meats (chicken, fish, lean hamburger, turkey). For snacks I choose healthy ones, rather than processed- apples and PB, nuts (almonds), banana, greek yogurt. Portion sizes have also changed (duh). Just the nature of having my band has forced the portions to be smaller because I just can't eat more. More than that the doctor said stick to a cup or less at a time. So what does this mean.... for instance when I use to eat a taco, it was taco's like 4, now one and maybe the inside of a second, but no more. When I would eat chicken it would be 2 chicken breast, now it's hard to eat one whole one, if it's large it will likely be half. I love talipia fillets and use to eat two, now it is about 3/4 of one. Eating out.... before surgery I would go out any where and order anything that sounded good, plus and appitizer and sometimes dessert. Boy, that has changed. I plan where I will go out, google their menu and see what the healthy options are. I choose healthy items, I don't get an appitizer, I don't get dessert. Many times I will not get all the items on the entree (like I will say no rice, I don't want 2 sides). I don't feel like I am missing out on anything by cutting back. I feel good. With the increase movement I have more energy and feel better and move better. Eating less makes my tummy feel better. I don't get that horrible stuffed turkey feeling after meals. I feel like my mind is clearer, I breath better, in general feel better. So all in all, honestly now I am suprised that I wasn't bigger than I was. I am thankful that I went ahead a took the step to get my band at 31 rather than waiting till I was older and my health had declined.

Congrats on 2 weeks pos-op! For my puréed phase I ate cottage cheese. Greek yogurt. Cream soups with unflavoured protein powder. Sugar free pudding with unflavoured protein. Beans once in awhile too,

It's officially been 2 weeks since I had surgery and I get to start eating pureed foods tomorrow! I can't believe I made it an entire month without solid food -- woohoo!! I have been SO tempted to cheat numerous times, but I resisted. My mom has been a great accountability partner in encouraging me to stick to the plan and I'm so thankful for her! Please spam me with all of your favorite mushy food ideas. I'm a bit nervous about what to try first...I'm thinking yogurt or pudding, so it won't be a huge difference from what I've been eating? My stomach can't handle sugar-free Jello since surgery, so I'm curious to see if these foods will work.

I've seen a lot of threads about different types of Protein powders, shakes, etc, but haven't come across one yet for ways to pack in the protein in other forms, so I figured I'd start one. I'm only a few weeks out so my diet is still limited, but so far the things I've found are: Oikos greek yogurt 110 cal, 0 fat, 15g protein! It's kinda sour, so I usually add some Bear Naked Protein granola. Bear Naked Protein Granola: 140 cal, 7g fat, 5g protein Kashi Go Lean High Protein & High Fiber cereal: 140 cal, 1g fat, 13g protein Special K Protein Plus: 100 cal, 3g fat, 10g protein Carbmaster yogurt: 80 cal, 4g carbs, 12 g protein (i can only find this at Smith's, so i'm not sure if that's true of everywhere, or just here) Frigo Light String Cheese: 60 cal, 8g protein 1g carbs I'd love to hear what other products people have found. I'm not a huge fan of the shakes, so as my diet progresses, I'd like to add a wider variety of protein options instead of going back to shakes. Right now, my favorites are yogurt and granola or Cereal with milk. Since skim milk has 8-9g protein (depending on the brand) I can easily get at least 18g in one quick meal. :ohmy:

I went in on 8/4 released 8/7 and my doctor told me I could eat pureed foods not just liquids, told me I would get tired of that quick. Suggested buying real Soups and puree in blender. I have had pureed soups and meats (underwood devil ham and chicken, soft scrambled egg, poached egg, cream of wheat, plain greek yogurt (with juice added for taste), cottage cheese in my first two weeks post op. Check with your doctor, everyone is a little different. Except for occasional overeating I have put down a cup of food at at time for meals and rather large gulps for liquids. I often wonder how much stomach he left in, I seem to take in more than most people.

Hi Ivy; Took this journey with many other SoCal sleevers and this is our hot topic of conversation at one year out. My disclaimer - none of us are too skinny and I mean that with BMI or health issues. None of us are non eaters - DUH or we would not have required VSG surgery. Your body will know when to stop, really. As Rootman said, you start to eat a little more too. There are about 6 of us in southern CA that support each other, each having different surgeons - all getting sleeved within two months of each other. One beauty has not hit weight loss goal at a year out (under 100 lbs to lose total) and still privately struggles since she has balanced out at "overweight" down from "obese". She would love to get down to a "normal" BMI range but her body resists. The rest of us are at or lower than we ever dreamed of getting in normal BMI range. Listen - we are all professional dieters on this site and know what NOT to eat to gain weight. Worry about hitting goal learning better healthy habits prior to surgery, practicing those tenants (eating healthy with proper calories, Protein, take supplements’ and Water) during weight loss phase and then worry about maintenance food still is a major part of my life, but my hunger no longer owns me. So, the glory of the sleeve is if you need calories, add healthy calories such as cheese, greek yogurt, extra slice of meat, a dab of guacamole or sour cream. YUM. Do not worry about anything other than hitting goal and learning new habits to create a new healthy you. I have no regrets, a mini miracle. Love my sleeve!

My suggestion is prepare lots of " your foods" I bought 2 dozen small plastic containers and filled them up with jello or jello and yogurt parfait, green pea soup, onion soup, and today making black bean soup and maybe some squash soup and it will be at my fingertips. Yest I took 4 of these and my milkshake on my shopping trip etc and my kids bought me a nice lunch bag- and I ate the same way I would have fed my babies 40 yrs ago, every 3/4 hours. I think preparation helps.