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Okay...I posted my ordeal in the regular thread. Long story short, I didn't eat well yesterday (too tight) and today I'm little tight and a little sore from yesterday but here it goes: B: Slimfast S: 1 oz Peanut Butter (actually 3/4 oz. Smuckers, pre-packaged) L: SOUP!!! LOL Progresso Beef vegetable (350 mg of Sodium! eeks) 1 pint 2% milk (blech...but it's all they had and L2L said I need dairy) S: Yoplait Original Blueberry Yogurt (fruit AND dairy, for L2L) D: Slimfast ( I don't know what to eat, nervous to eat soup OR solids!) Protein: dunno, hope it's better than last time Exercise: None today...too tired and don't feel like it. I've worked out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so far this week. I'm taking tonight off. ~C

I can't sleep - thought I'd log my food for Wed & Thur Date: 10/8/08 What Did You Eat Today? Breakfast: coffee, 1/2 BK Wrapper Lunch: beef & bean burrito, 4 tortilla chips, 1 sopapilla Snack: rice cakes Dinner: 3 tb pb, wheat thins, cool whip, 3 cups popcorn, 1 pb cookie 1 cup 2% (hood cal countdown) milk Protein: I'll caculate later Water Intake: 2 liters Exercise: Nada Anything to add: I honestly can't remember - couldn't even remember all of my food Date: 10/8/08 What Did You Eat Today? Breakfast: coffee Lunch: grilled chicken, grilled veggies (onions.shrooms), tortilla chips & salsa Dinner: 1 cup greek yogurt, 1 cup milk, 1 jr lunchables Protein: I'll caculate later Water Intake: 5 (16 oz cups) Exercise: Zumba Class Anything to add: I weighed in today and didn't gain/didn't lose either though! New week ahead - and why hasn't anyone else logged in two days? We're slippin ladies! :-)

Re: Our Journal - April Avengers Okay - Where's everyone??? I want to know if I'm the only one here struggling. If you are eating wrong - it is okay...let's get on track. Date: 10/10/08 What Did You Eat Today? Breakfast: coffee, 1/2 BK Wrapper Lunch: Potato Soup Dinner: chicken salad (made with spinach dip), Yogurt, Banana & 2% Milk Snack: Protein shake Protein: 69 Water Intake: 4 liters Exercise: Body Sculpting (300 cal burned) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 10/11/08 What Did You Eat Today? Breakfast: Orange juice Snack: Popcorn Lunch: Chicken Salad & Jr. Lunchables Dinner: 2 Hushpuppies, ketchup, peach cobler, milk Protein: 41g & 965 cal Water Intake: 5 (16 oz cups) Exercise: Housework ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 10/12/08 What Did You Eat Today? Breakfast: None (slept in)Snack: Great Value Cheesy Puffs Lunch: Hamburger Helper Cheesy Hashbrowns Snack: 2 tb cookie dough Dinner: Hamuber Helper Cheesy Hashbrowns, Milk Protein: 52g & 1310 cal Water Intake: 5 (16 oz cups) Exercise: Housework I snacked on darned cheesy puffs most of the day. I craved milk all day - probably had 3 cups of milk. Sunday was a tough on plan day. Back on plan on Monday! Did good the rest of the weekend though.

Hey Ross, Listen to them. Their menus sound good. I never have much hunger so I eat weird. I have 2 big cups of coffee for Breakfast. About 4:00 pm I will eat a Protein bar. About 7:00 pm I will have either tacos or taco salad for dinner. Sometimes part of all of low carb Protein shake before working out. When I was first starting out like you I ate eggs for breakfast and a measured out 3/4 cup amount of chicken salad with eggs, FF mayo and eat the same for dinner. The rest of time is drinking all that Water. I tend to pick something I like and stick with it. I did Chicken salad for 7 months straight. I bought big cans of white chicken meat at Sam's (Costco) and made enough for the whole week so I did not have to think about food just get my bowl out and fill it up and that was it. I have been considering getting a juicer because I hate vegetables except the bad ones. So I thought I could drink my veggies. I do best when I do very low carb NOT no carb but low carb. I also eat low carb yogurt love it! Cheri

Ditto on the string cheese! I like the south beach Protein bars as well. I spend a lot of time in the car, so I look for Snacks too. I have been drinking the slim fast lowcarb/low sugar-3grams. The original slim fast has over 28gr sugar and a lot more calories. It's a quick way to get your protein in. I would stay away from the McD's yogurt things....there is a huge amount of sugar in them.!!!! My doctor tells us to limit the amount of sugar to 3gr. or less in a serving! Banded 5/23/07

1) Your swelling has subsided. 2) Liquids in, liquids out 3) Acid mimics hunger. However, not all "acid medications" are created equally. If you are on an H2 blocker, you will not get the full effect of acid reduction. An H2 blocker treats the symptoms, H2 blockers are Zantac, Pepcid. Proton Pump Inhibitors/PPIs actually stop the acid from producing in your stomach and those are Dexilant, Prilosec, Nexium, Protonix, or any generic of those drugs. These drugs need to be taken on an empty stomach and some require a full hour wait time before eating, Nexium requires 30 minutes. OR, you can eat and take them 2-3 hours after eating. I choose to take mine first thing in the morning and wait an hour. Sometimes, you need to double up on the dose. Zantac, Pepcid never does anything for me. broth counts as a liquid. There is absolutely no reason to be alarmed with liquids. It's the sheer mechanics of your pyloric valve opening. Be grateful that you can get in that much liquid. It took me an hour to 8oz at 6 weeks post-op. We do not have pouches like RNY patients, there is no stoma. We have normal functioning stomachs, just smaller in size. Easy mental picture when you start progressing through the stages and learning about eating post-VSG: Think of your sleeve like a kitchen sink: Liquids : Dump liquids in, they slide right on down, empty into the drain. NO stopping Full liquids/thick liquids: Dump 3ounces of yogurt, cottage cheese, pudding down the drain; It will slide down the drain opening a bit slower, but you don't have to stir it around, or mush it through the sink drain. Mushy/puree: (this is where your teeth come in extra handy) you can dump some puree chicken salad/chili/egg salad down the drain and it's gonna sit there for a bit, it'll leak through, right? but it's going to take some time. So you might have to get a spoon to stir it around to get it to go down the drain. Soft Solids: Oh chewing is essential. You can toss some ground beef in the sink and it's not going down without some mushing down/stirring it around with the spoon to get it through the drain opening. . The stomach after surgery still isn't sure what to do with those soft protein/solids, so it's slow to work properly, and all the stomach really does is break down, mush down the food. 85% of Absorption of nutrients/calories etc etc occur in the intestine. Anyways, the meat is going to need some help to get down the drain. Gastric fluids, the mechanical work of the stomach, and chewing helps this process. This is when you really get the restriction. Measuring your mushy/purees and onto soft solids and Protein will keep you from overeating and puking or being in pain. Once you get to full liquids, still be cautious and measure out. Once you're on mushy/purees, always, always measure. Don't eat until full, eat the measured, prescribed portion and that will help you stay within your caloric intake for the day. The pyloric valve is what regulates how and when the food dumps into the intestines. That's why liquids don't offer restriction. Sip away, enjoy hydration so many of us struggled with being able to get in fluids. As time progresses, your stomach works better, transit time speeds up and you can eat a bit more. This is where the "sleeve stretching" posts come up. People think they've stretched something, when it really boils down to the stomach is just working properly.

I appreciate everyones responses. To clarify things, i have gone to counseling, i have been to an eating disorder center, i have tried Atkins and many other diets. I know that it's not a lot of weight that i am talking about. However, someone mentioned about me being proactive about doing something about it ahead of time... and that is my point. I don't have a huge appetite, it's not the thought of food or looking at food and wanting it, it is my actual stomach feeling hungry and empty ALL THE TIME. Even after i eat a substantial amount of food, an hour later, my stomach is growling (not gurgling from digestion) but actually feels hungry again like i have an empty pit. Counseling doesn't fix this. And i CHOOSE to eat large amounts of vegetables so that i don't end up 300 pounds or more and risk other health concerns. Eventually this problem could lead to severe obesity, and that is what i am trying to avoid. I do not want a smaller stomach to down a 2000 calorie milkshake. I want to be able to consume a normal sized meal, and be done. Not feel as if i have eaten a grain of rice as others sit around me stuffed. Right now there is a physical problem- the stretched out stomach, and it hasn't shrunk on it's on through liquid diets or other methods. I see this as being the only option that could help me long term. I eat very healthfully and enjoy healthy food, it would just be a dream to be able to sit and have a yogurt and a sliced apple and it hold me over for a few hours as opposed to 6 yougurts and 5 apples and still that hunger nagging at me. Hopefully someone understands where i am coming from.

Surgrey was great it's almost 2 weeks and I feel great. I do notice there is a pain in my lower back Hoping it will go aWay. Best dishion ever. I notice I'm getting full and when I be I stop eating in the middle of the day. With everything with Protein drinks, pudding yogurts he gets to be a little too much for my stomach. I know that I lost 17 pounds so far. Sent from my SM-N910T using the BariatricPal App

I am not sure why you exclude Protein shakes - I know a lot of people hate them but you just have to look until you find something you like. I like GNC, and while they are more expensive, they are usually in some mall and the best thing is, that they let you return the product. I have tried it several times, I buy Protein powder, and try it. If I don't like it, I return it. I never have more than one serving, no need to abuse their awesome policy. I have found that I really like the GNC Wheybolic Extreme chocolate and I think it is as close as possible to chocolate milk. It has no after taste IMHO and it packs a lot of great protein (isolates, no concentrate). It also mixes very well so it is good to use without an electric blender. Anyway, my nutritionist says a lot of sleeves continue to rely on protein supplements for ease of mind and I see this. I have a chocolate shake in the morning - 30g of protein and 140 calories, and it usually isn't too hard to get 30g in naturally. You can go all out and get the whole serving for 60g of protein and 280 calories and then never have to think about protein the whole day but often I don't want to sacrifice 280 calories on just a shake. It's not cheap, make sure you get a coupon or wait for the same (usually beginning of the month) Other than this obvious, here are some other things I like: Hummus with yogurt (greek/regular plain) - this makes for a nice hearty protein snack, add a little olive oil, curry powder or hot sauce on top for an extra kick but not necessary Fage 2% yogurt - make sure to use the 2%, because the calories are about the same (maybe 10 cals more when comparing by weight) but it tastes a LOT better than the 0% versions of Fage, Oikos, Dannon and the like. If you can spare the calories and carbs, add a little maple syrup or agave nectar I am still on full liquid, so I have to wait for tuna, chicken and eggs :-(

As others have said tuna has become a big part of my diet. It's quick and easy to prepare and packed with protein. Once I was onto soft foods and allowed to eat tuna was when I was finally able to meet my protein goal for the day. I mix it with Greek yogurt instead of mayo (there is no low/no fat mayo in Taiwan that I can find LOL).

I had the sleeve done 4 years ago. Lost 115 pounds. Gained about 20 pounds over the last year. I ended up with severe GERD, hiatal hernia and gallstones that cause severe pain. 9/6 I had the surgeries to fix all that which includes the bypass. It's been an interesting month. The healing process is different. Food going down too fast will definitely be coming back up (vomiting). Anything not chewed will be coming back up. Premier protein is smooth enough to stay down. Soups like French onion, chicken noodle (minute the noodles) veggie soup. Salmon. 2 good Yogurt and high protein high fiber oatmeal. Stays down for me. It's a big adjustment. I know that this is just a phase that we go through. I can eat boiled eggs now too. Eat slowly-chew slowly-swallow slowly. Drink 60 ounces of water. Follow the doctors orders. You'll loose weight I've seen people successfully keep the weight off with both. They stick to the high protein/low carb and don't eat anything they did before ( that made them obese....like breads, maccoroni, rice, flour, sugar, fried foods). How are you all managing constipation? That's been interesting. Take care and give yourselves room to adjust. Things will get better. We make the best of the tool ( bypass) and it will work for us. Everything will workout for the greater good. We deserve healthy and happy lives and we embrace them daily.

I am only 2 weeks out and since I can't return to work yet friends are always trying to take me out. i keep a Protein shake on me and plenty of Water. I've also carried yogurt and crystal light with me and keep some in the car so i always have something. For you I would say to just choose from the low cal menu since most restaurants have one or choose anything with fish and greens, any other healthy decisions...Good Luck!

My go to snack is greek yogurt. (think I have an addiction)

I think you make a fair point, white meat chicken has never been a problem for me, but I know it can be for some people. You might try another solid dense Protein, but cottage cheese or yogurt are probably not good indicators. I'm not saying that it should be easy, I'm suggesting that it may help you describe what how much solid food you are easily able to eat in order for you and your doctor to have a dialogue. Does this make sense?

Trust your tummy, but, especially if you are exercising heavily, try to get some more protein in - even if its throwing in a shake. Last night I was at my fencing club for 2 hours and burned about 1,000 calories. I had consumed about 600 calories before going during the course of the day and ate a protein bar as I drove home to boost things. Today I will concentrate more on protein as well. Had a nice shake for breakfast and will have some yogurt pretty soon!

I really like Greek yogurt with Stevia and I buy frozen blueberries. I put them in the microwave for a few seconds and they get all juicy. Mix it all together and it's like a dessert for me. It's very yummy. some people put sf jelly in there too. There are a lot of things you can do to make Greek yogurt very good. And they do make already flavored ones, but they have more carbs. Tiffy is right though. the sf cheesecake pudding makes it taste very good! There is a good chance your tastes will change after surgery. Many people say things they never liked before, they really like now.

It's been a week since I've posted on my blog, I feel bad for that, I've found it's a great source of stress relief from me and really should do it everyday. My friend John who retired (at the age of 42) last year from being an air traffic controller came in for a visit on Monday. It was an unexpected visit and I had to work which was a bummer. I did take off Tuesday with him and we went to the gym together. That was fun. He's addicted to my rockband game! We had a blast just jammin. My friend Dalena moved in last Friday with her ten year old son. It's been a lot better than I thought it would be. Mikey her son is going to have some serious food issues if she doesn't change his eating habits I can already see that. He doesn't want to eat what is on the table and then goes to the cabinet that is now loaded (ugh ugh ugh) with JUNK food and gets whatever he wants. Dalena has never once read a food label doesn't know the difference between fat, carbs and protein and no clue what a serving size is. I'm working on teaching her. I think that I will take her to the nut with me on Thursday when I go for my first fill. I am SOOOOOOO ready for my first fill. It's so hard sticking to just what I am supposed to be eating. I've been cooking a lot more since Dalena has been here which is rough for me. I'm going to back off on that. It's better not to have the temptation of tasting while I cook. I'm getting burnt out on cottage cheese and yogurt. I do great during the day when I am at work and want to eat the house at night. Dang scale must be broken it's not moving:cursing: I am exercising at least an hour of cardio every day and have noticed a difference in the size of my clothing. I was SHOCKED:w00t: last night when I bought a pair of inspiration workout pants from old navy in a size medium and they FIT!!!:thumbup::thumbup::cursing: Doing the happy dance! Today my cardio will be spent in the garden, my Weed, oh I mean flower beds have been overtaken and i must find them. With that I'm going to sign off and get to work. Hope everyone one is doing well with their band, I hope mine starts working soon, it's been a slacker!

I can eat the yogurt, cheese, applesauce, & mashed potatoes. I haven’t really ventured out with trying different foods yet. I made a mango sorbet yesterday with just chopped frozen mangos & a little splash of almond milk. I ate the entire thing, probably like 6oz. I’m getting tired of yogurt so I have to think of other things to make. I’m also vegetarian so I definitely have to think of foods to eat.

Your getting close to the end of the puree diet. Right now, check if these are OK: soft scrambled eggs, non-fat yogurt, banana, applesauce, string cheese, low-fat ricotta cheese, peanut butter, mashed potatoes. You'll be able to eat soft foods soon such as meatballs and chili. These can be prepared with turkey. I am on the soft food diet now. I'll admit I had a couple of small slices of homemade from scratch pizza. Crust was prepared with whole wheat flour. It was a special occasion (Father's Day) but I don't plan to have pizza more than once every three months. We're making fish, chicken noodle soup, beef barley soup, and stir fry beef and broccoli. This is a good time to reevaluate meal planning for your weight loss journey.

Welcome to LBT! I was banded on December 23rd too!! I'm still sore around the incisions but am doing well over-all. I'm SOO happy to be banded!! This is the best Christmas present EVER!! What type of liquids are you eating? I'm eating yogurt, fudgscicles, cream of wheat, and cream of chicken Soup at the moment. How are you feeling today? Please keep me updated! Merry Christmas!! Amy

keep busy, really!@!!! occupy yourself, stay out of the kitchen. Eat what they tel you to, its for a good reason (shrinking your liver) and your Better health and a SUCCESSFUL UNEVENTFUL Surgery...sojust keep you mind on the ultimate goal l.... of permanent weight los... you can do ANYTHING for 2 weeks,,, remember cramming for exams???? that sucked too! but you did it.... SO get creative with the yogurt, freeze it, slush it, eat it with chopsticks,, popsicles (SF), boullion is not that bad change up the flavors... MY Fav. is cottage cheese with sweetner and cinnamon!!!! Last night at my preop semi. i met a guy who puts Mustard in his cottage cheese.. and its it that way... do whatever works.!!! BE WELL

I was banded at TLBC June 8th 2006 and have already reached goal. The best advice I can offer is follow instructions.....Lapbandtalk can offer simple suggestions through experience, however.....when it comes to advice about fills, staying on liquid or other diets, etc...then talk to your Dr....they know best. I have never had an issue with TLBC...they treated me well and professional at all times, I had no complication pre or post surgery. My husband is a chef. I do not like cottage cheese so for the pre-op diet my husband was mixing 1/2 cup low fat yogurt with 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of ice cubes, 1 package of sweetner and liquified it through the blender...every day he would add different flavourings...such as 1 - 2 tablespoons of sugar free jam, or 1 tablespoon of plain cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of real vanilla, etc. It was like drinking liquid cheesecake! Don't say you can't take the pre-op for 14 days....it will be tough but think of your priorities.....1) not following instructions and compromising your surgery....or 2) weight loss from your surgery which will bring you better quality of a longer life that would otherwise be compromised from your obestiy. I took the second choice and am now enjoying life as I never knew it....I also wear a size 8.....from a 24/26. Good luck Carol

Hi Kero! I soo wrote the same sort of post you wrote just like 1.5 months ago. I was banded on June 7/07. I am having a rough time with the post op stuff..just waiting for thr 1st fill. All you have to think when doing the pre op diet..."I have to do this....I dont have a choice...I can only eat what they said....I dont want to screw this up" Thats what I said all the time. Gosh I was getting to the point I was scared the fruit in my yogurt was to big. It all worked out. For me the pre op was pretty easy. Actually I am having a hard time with food right now and back to over eating that I put myself back on the pre op until my 1st fill!

Hello I use the unflavored unjury Protein powder in cream of celery and cream of chicken soup, as well as tomato basil soup and I can't even tell that it's been added to the Soups. I also add the Unjury to non fat refried Beans and yogurt, and can't detect the flavor of the Protein Powder at all in those things. I tried Unjury in my lemonade flavored Crystal Light and I did notice it changed the flavor, and I didn't like it. Maybe if I had added less protein powder it would have been tolerable. You'll just have to play with it and see if you can try it in the Crystal Light and other drinks, such as Powerade Zero and decaf iced tea.

Ohhh. Ok. How yogurt...what type of yogurt can I have? I love yo plait Greek o fat but instructions say no fruit at the bottom which ones can I buy?