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GooD AfternooN!!!!! I'm feeling really good today!!!! You can even call me hyper!!! I can't stay still:dance:... I did about 30 minutes of aerobics/excercises... I did 4 or five loads of:washing: .... i gave my two boys a :scared: .... I organized my closet and I even cleaned the boys NIGHTMARE :eek: of a room!! (if you know what moonsand is...you know what I mean....:faint: ) I know I have the "nesting" syndrome. I tell my usband it's because when he coems home from his trip it will be just to take care of me and the kids and not worry about the house...Plus, I've definately let my house go since doing all the PTO things...:rolleyes (at least that's my excuse).... Any way... My diet is going good... Yesterday: Dinner: 1/4 cup rice and 1/2 of a pork spare rib... snack: Bumble Bee sensations (sun dried tomatoes w/ tuna) and my last 12 oz of crystal lite... I got up to pee......3 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cry Oh well...I sucked it up!!!! :clap2: Today: B: atkins vanilla snack: light yogurt with 1/2 scoop eas whey protein I'm on my 1st crystal lite bottle l: atkins chocolate Doesn't this sound yummy!!!:cry Well, gotta go! Gotta bring my daughter to horseback riding lessons!!! she LOVES it and I love to watch her!!!! Anyway, amybe once I loose the weight we could do it together!!! :clap2: See YA!!!!!!! 6 more days and counting!!

:crazy: GooD AfternooN!!!!! I'm feeling really good today!!!! You can even call me hyper!!! I can't stay still:dance:... I did about 30 minutes of aerobics/excercises... I did 4 or five loads of:washing: .... i gave my two boys a .... I organized my closet and I even cleaned the boys NIGHTMARE :crazy: of a room!! (if you know what moonsand is...you know what I mean....:faint: ) I know I have the "nesting" syndrome. I tell my usband it's because when he coems home from his trip it will be just to take care of me and the kids and not worry about the house...Plus, I've definately let my house go since doing all the PTO things...:rolleyes (at least that's my excuse).... Any way... My diet is going good... Yesterday: Dinner: 1/4 cup rice and 1/2 of a pork spare rib... snack: Bumble Bee sensations (sun dried tomatoes w/ tuna) and my last 12 oz of crystal lite... I got up to pee......3 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cry Oh well...I sucked it up!!!! :clap2: Today: B: atkins vanilla snack: light yogurt with 1/2 scoop eas whey protein I'm on my 1st crystal lite bottle l: atkins chocolate Doesn't this sound yummy!!!:cry Well, gotta go! Gotta bring my daughter to horseback riding lessons!!! she LOVES it and I love to watch her!!!! Anyway, amybe once I loose the weight we could do it together!!! :clap2: See YA!!!!!!! 6 more days and counting!!

Call me naughty, but I drink before and after I eat, even though my surgeon's guidelines say not to. Just small sips, nothing major. After learning in gastroenterology class that only particles smaller than 1 mm in size can pass through the pyloric sphincter, I'm a little skeptical of this whole "fluids will push your piece of steak right through" idea. Yogurt, maybe, but not most foods.

So I am almost at the end of my 4th month and it seems I am getting full lot faster than before 🤷🏻‍♀️ Like the amount, I was able to eat, now I can't as much. Before I was okay eating around 0.75 cup (half of it is usually yogurt) but now I feel stuffed with the same level, so I have reduced the portion size a little to may be 0.5 to 0.6 cup or incorporate less solid and more semi solid like yogurt (which I usually have with every meal for my protein as a vegetarian eater). I don't know if anyone has experienced similar trajectory. Not sure if I should be concerned? Because I am studying, I am not as active. I do make sure to walk about 45 mins to an hour a day but that's mostly my activity other than some chores here and there. So I can't eat more than 3 to 4 meals a day and calories have kinda reduced too (between 600 to 800). I don't know, guess I am rambling but I am unable to eat as much to increase my calories. My dietician said usually patients on our program are around 1000 calories around 6 months mark, so I think I am alright but if I feel stuffed, I can't manage to eat much.

Hey, I am so happy for you that you had the surgery and I wish you luck on your way. I think the following items may be good for you to try out: - yogurt (watch out for sugar) - homemade fruit smoothie (you make it with frozen fruit, OJ, scoop of vanilla Protein powder and some either s/f ice cream or yogurt) - hard boiled egg - soups - popsicles (s/f of course ) - steamed veggies - fruit, fruit and more fruit. (I would try watermelon and oranges - they seem to go down easily for me and my mom - both sleeved) Also, when/if you have veggies or later on meats, it is really helpful to have a dipping sauce like ranch dressing or ketchup, etc, to help everything go down in the right direction. hope this helps

I think tracking is important, I do that too. I am just always getting mad about those foods. Yesterday, my husband brought a bag of "baked" chips. They had 10 calories less for a serving but a lot more ingredients than regular chips. Add to that they don't even remotely taste as nice as normal chips - no good crunch, not as satisfying - and the calorie savings are really not worth mentioning. That said, I think it is perfectly fine to use less butter, use a cut of meat with less fat or use ground turkey instead of ground pork, but I think the problem starts when fat (sugar/carbs) are replaced with artificial stuff. I noticed from tracking, that I seem to not even get the recommended amount of fat even though I am eating 2% yogurt, drinking 2% milk and am cooking with olive oil...but I also don't want to eat a spoon full of Peanut Butter just to up the fat...but maybe I should? Or almond butter?

How do you get your Protein in for Breakfast? I'm having a really hard time finding things to eat for breakfast that contain a lot of protein. I don't eat yogurt and it seems that almost everything else is full of carbs Also what about lunch? What are you eating to get protein at lunch? dinner I got covered! LOL I'm just "sick" of the Protein drinks already

I can't drink milk at all but I can eat cheese and yogurt. I can eat a little bit of ice cream but more than that I have diarrhea pretty quickly. It's pretty common for sleeve patients to become lactose intolerant. You will just have to experiment to see what works and what doesn't. Tiffy is right. I get really sick on high fat high sugar foods. It's dumping syndrome, according to Dr. Aceves, too much sugar and fat goes into our systems too quickly because our stomachs are so small. It's not only diarrhea. I get nauseous and sweaty and feel really sick.

It seems like every doctor has a different plan with regard to easing people back into food. This is the plan from my nutritionist... 2 weeks post op...Protein shakes only 3 weeks post op Phase 1 Eating...soft Protein such as cottage cheese, yogurt, Beans, lunch meats, regular cheese, tuna, eggs 4 weeks post op Phase 2 Eating...adding in fruits and veggies 6 weeks post op Phase 3 Eating...adding in harder Proteins such as chicken breast, steaks, etc 8 weeks post op Phase 4 Eating...adding in carbs such as bread, starchy veggies etc

I am struggling to find anyone else for support who is in a similar situation - whether it is because I am a rarity or that those of us with this issue don't frequent the support forum... I am not sure. I am getting frustrated over time and tired of working hard not to lose weight. I would never have expected this to be a problem! I had my surgery in May 2012 at 255 lbs and have been at goal for a bit over a year. I am currently struggling with a recurrence of depression, so the energy that I have typically been putting into getting all of my calories and exercise is flagging - I am getting treatment for the depression but it takes some time. I have worked very hard not to lose weight during this time and to keep my calories up. Typically I am very, very active. I expect that within a few weeks I will be feeling enough better to be back to exercising more. I usually exercise about 15 hours per week, taking one or two days off. Usually at least one day per week I get four to six hours of exercise, even as much as eight hours. I am an avid cyclist, hiker, skier, etc. My problem seems to be that I have a very high BMR of 2,000. So, I need at least that many calories on days with no exercise. Then, add exercise and I have days where I need 5,000 and even up to 7,000 calories in order to maintain my weight. Obviously those super high calorie days are rare, but I regularly have 3,000+ calorie days. Typically I am using lots of whole milk (at least 750 calories of whole milk per day) and on days when my weight has dropped below my comfort zone I start adding heavy cream or half and half. I also eat avocados, nuts, olive oil, butter, premier Protein shakes, etc. I also make green shakes - blended Protein powder, Greek yogurt, fruits, veggies. I use chocolate on days when I am desperate for more calories but don't have more room for real food - it's a total slider. I probably get minimum 1,000-1,300 calories from liquids and the rest from solid food. I have to choose the highest calorie foods out there - looking at a menu I will intentionally choose whatever has the most possible calories. My goal is to maintain at 130 when not working out and up to 135 if I am working out a lot. I was at lower weights initially (down to 123 at 5'6") and looked way too thin. At the lower weight I had too little muscle, was a size 0, and was told that I looked like a victim of weight loss. It wasn't a kind thing for someone to say but was accurate - at just a slightly higher weight I look far healthier and more proportionate. I am on the mobile app and have not updated my ticker from my lowest weight probably - but that is where I am at today and what I have decided is healthiest for me. It took a lot of effort to add muscle weight. When I was obese I didn't exercise and I am sure my metabolism wasn't this high. But now that I have lost the weight I worry that I will be thinner, fit, and set myself up for the same health problems by eating unhealthy foods in order to maintain my weight. I hear that weight gain is common at the 3 year mark. I also worry that the way I have to eat now in order to maintain my weight could set me up for problems later on. I currently weight myself regularly to make sure I am not losing weight rather than to make sure not to gain, though. I think if the depression would improve I would have more energy to pursue healthier high calorie food options. Looking for suggestions and other people in the same boat...

For dinners most nights I have a big bowl of home made veggie soup with some kind of fake meat in it for protein... or a big bowl of some kind of veggie stir fry , fruit and veggie salad or veggie baked casserole. I almost always have home made fat free pudding with peanut butter or dark chocolate chips on top for desert. I might have a fat free greek yogurt with fruit or nuts mixed in for breakfast, and some kind of left overs for lunch. What ever I eat, I write it down in MFP. 5 days a week I eat tp stay in the guidelines of saturated fats, carbs and protein... not always perfectly... between 1200-1500 cals depending on exercise... one/two days a week I try to stay under 600 cals (the 5:2). I eat what I like, and I find if I cook it myself, I can eat much better then prefixed. I do like wheat crackers with low fat cottage cheese as a snack. I have to watch the crackers, or I will eat too many at a sitting. This is a go too for protein. I can eat quite a bit... so as my ability to eat more developed, I added more low cal veggies to my meals... cooked or raw.

I had only 19 days on protein shakes, 4 oz. puree fruit, yogurt and milk then will go to regular food (best to eat moist foods in the beginning, but mostly what I can tolerate). I have been feeling must better and down 25 lbs in 2 weeks.

@@Elode I'm sorry, I just got coffee all over my work computer screen from that first line! LOL @@Mel13 - I could not get you more right now...... I currently live with 3 people that only eat once a day and it's normally chips, yogurt raisins, or fried chicken. One of them is my fiance and I will be moving with him in a few days to our own place - only for him to complain that he wants bread with his eggs and why can't he just have his bag of chips. I go to my parents' house 5x a week for my daughter to eat spaghetti with ALOT of grated cheese, and my dad to order pizza when he doesn't want to cook, and my mom offer me chicken nuggets instead cause she "knows I'm off bread". I could not understand the difficulty any more at this point lol. But as I keep getting told by every one of them - they want to support me...... but they already put their foot down with changing everything for me. Which is fine - it's more self control needed on my part. You've got this! Just ignore them lol

Well, I wish I had read my post op instructions better. I could have sworn it said that I was to only have clear liquids and Protein shakes for the first 4 weeks. After 2 weeks of that, I was starving, so I started adding tomato Soup to the mix. The whole time I thought I was cheating. After 2 yrs, I re-read my instructions for the heck of it. It said "Full liquids" to include: yogurt, cream Soups, applesauce and pudding. I was literally starving to death! And that whole time I felt guilty for "cheating"! My dr's instructions were the first 4 weeks were to be full liquids (as I said above), then 1 week of soft foods (like scrambled eggs, egg salad, tuna salad, mashed potatoes, yogurt, etc), then normal foods. Never had to do mushies. Thanks God, couldn't imagine putting all of my food in a blender and actually enjoying it! Let me tell you, those first bites of mashed potatoes were the best thing I've ever eaten! After 4 weeks of nothing but liquids! Good luck! Marci

I was banded on Monday 8/16, I was instructed to maintain a clear liquid diet for 1 week. I don't think that I can do it. I'm not hungry and nor do I have an appetite, but I can't sit another day and drink this stuff for 2.5 hours 3 times a day. I'm thinking of moving on to full liquids (yogurt only) to get my protien in. I honestly don't think it should be a problem because some surgeons only require a liquid diet, they don't say "clear". Further more, all day yesterday, I drank 1 oz every 5 to 10 mins rather than every 15 mins just to cut down the time. I think the only way I'll get my protien in is to mix it in my yogurt. Let me know what you think.

Cowgirl I know I still love my premier shakes! I find that a 7oz container of Fage plain Greek and stevia fills me up just as well.. I know it's not as convenient but.. And yogurt doesn't give the same stomach troubles as other dairy for me.

Hi all, Only a few things taste different for me. Only artificial sweetener I can tolerate is Splenda. Whatever is in sugar free pudding didn't used to bother me but now I can taste it big time. Someone recommended using sugar free pudding mix with the greek yogurt. Yuck! And I'm losing my taste for Spaghetti Sauce because it gives me heartburn. Also less prone to go nuts on sweets or fats for more than one day running because I feel crappy the next day (not to mention the weight gain!). Lynda

You go girl! Wow, your doc is even more conservative than mine- I got mushies at three weeks (Monday) but FOUR weeks of full liquids- wow! Do you get yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.? Do you add Protein powder to your soup, etc. Keep it up!

you might take a lot of crap for asking this, but a lot more people do this than there are people willing to admit it. It's obviously not the best choice, but we are all just trying to live our lives and have some normalcy. I say be very careful. I have fro-yo about twice a month now but the very first time I had it the yogurt sat in my stomach like a brick and then I got pretty dizzy.

I like GNC Pro Performace whey protein natural flavour. It has no flavour and 40 grams of protein in just 2 scoops!! I add pb2 powder for extra protein and to give it a nice taste. Sometimes I add Greek yogurt and fruit for a smoothie but only occasionally because of the carbs.

Doesn't the frozen yogurt have a ton of sugar in it? You probably were reacting to the sugar.

soup is a liquid and goes right through you. Yogurt takes a little longer, but not much. You'll start to really feel the restriction when you get to the solid food stage.

I have been making home-made apple sauce tonight (golden apple) for my post-op mushy phase. I learned this technique when I had babies. Food can be prepared (blenderized) and then placed into ice cube trays and frozen. This makes individual 1 oz. servings and cuts down on waste. After the food is frozen, label and date a freezer bag and place the food in it. Now you have a variety of food ready made to your specific taste. You can do this with anything that can be pureed; meat, fish, chicken, fruits and veggies, anything goes! I bought a Rival 1.5 cup food processor (under$10) to do my food. Not much clean up and no wasted food stuck to a large machine. BTW you can also make freezer pops (juice or pudding/yogurt) this way too. Just fill the trays with your desired product, cover with plastic wrap and then insert bamboo skewers (cut to size) and freeze. Voila! Now you have sleeve sized snacks. Really hope this helps someone. It can be much easier to stick with a goal if you have a ready supply of necessities. I'm trying to plan. I know how easy it is to eat a Debbie cake when you are tired and don't feel like cooking. Happy pureeing y'all :0)

Plain greek yogurt mixed with a bit of MIO drink mix is tasty & an excellent source of protein. I also like low-fat cottage cheese. These are both easy for me to tolerate.

How far out are you? I remember your beautiful picture whenever I first started coming here, or not long after, so I believe you are in "full" mode (regular foods). If so, then I suggest......... Ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, laughing cow blue cheese wedges (or other varieties), greek yogurt, beef Jerky, pork rinds, shrimp, canadian bacon, eggs, fish, any meat (but watch your fat - that's why I can't eat too much avocado, fat makes me sick.. God didn't hear me correctly obviously because I had wished for it to have been sweets, sigh), ohhh and there is something you can add to Soups to make it higher in Protein. Grr it's on the tip of my tongue.... I am thinking TMP or TPV or something. Grr. I'll have to find it. I generally eat shrimp as a snack or canadian bacon or even turkey bacon here and there. Sometimes for lunch, sometimes for a snack. Greek yogurt - I buy plain then I get sugar free torani syrup and make my own mixture. Saves 50-90 calories extra that's in the good mixed up stuff (i.e. Dannon greek black cherry yogurt for example). You can always add Protein Powder into some of the things you are making as well. So if you are craving something sweet, perhaps make some sugar free Jello with unjury powder mixed in it. I say some though as it depends on the temperature of what you are cooking too. But if you focus on real meat as an intake, you will get your protein level up. A good "rule" that I live by is to "protein load" in the morning so that I'm less hungry throughout the day. Of course, for me lately that's been 2-3 slices of turkey bacon (we use the butterball kind and it's super thin) but it's enough to make me full until 10 or 11, at which time usually eat an egg and either a small piece of fish or a few shrimp with just a bit of veggies for my meal. If not in "full" mode yet, many of the items I suggested work for soft foods. Clears, I did the ready to drink Cytosport whey isolate drinks and I adored them. Now I just eat "real" protein sources like some of what I've suggested above. I am also a recipe hound, always looking for something different to try so that I don't get too bored with what I'm currently eating. Idk if any of that helps, but I surely hope so! I'm also on myfitnesspal and my journals are public if you want to add me, please do. Best of luck to you always.