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Thank you... I dumped on yogurt in the hospital and am scared to death to try it again. Worst feeling ever! There have been days I haven't gotten any Protein in. My hair is gonna eventually fall out and I'm never gonna feel better. I just wanna cry some days. I've lost a little over 30 pounds but I would rather have my 30 pounds back than feel like this! Jess...Surgiversary 9/19/12

ParrotHeadCathy ~ Thanks for your reply; I don't get many on here... I guess It's all my fault; I am just not being as diligent as I should and it's frustrating.. I was just hoping this tool would give my discipline a kick in the A**... Which if I get to a point with the ccS it will... I just have NO willpower.. As far as your questions: Have you ever felt any restriction? I have to a point. Do you eat as prescribed, that is 3 oz of Protein, steamed or raw vegetable and then and only then, if still hungry WHOLE GRAIN carbs? I wasn't given this information.. We have a nutritionalist for the beginning and were told to keep it below 1,000 calories on days I don't go to gym and 1,200 on days that I do. Do you snack? When stressed... On what? Nuts, yogurt, jell-o... but I do have bad habits (chips ~ not much though)... Do you have problems swallowing any foods? not really; starting to see problems with breads, but I am not really eating them anyhow.

Yikes....I'm a prebander and live on this site for all kinds of insight into what my life is going to be like....seriously, this freaks me a little. I do not want to have to live on mushed tuna and chicken, mashed potatoes and yogurt. I am totally willing to do small bites and chew till I turn purple but I love meats and that is a good Protein, right? I'm a little concerned now. I can give up bread, no problem, but the thought of giving up a good steak once in awhile (even if it is just a few bites) makes me a little sad. I'm just concerned of what I'm going to be able to eat now....when I get to that point of real food again.

Last Sunday, not yesterday but a week ago, I got a pill partially stuck. For 4 hours after that I couldn't keep down anything. Not even liquids. It all came back up. Then I guess it finally passed because I was fine again. On Monday I was okay but having a little pain when I swallowed my food-like band pain. Then on Tuesday I decided to just go back to liquids for a few days thinking I was swelled so I did that. On Wednesday I had 4 oz of my Protein Shake and it came back up. So I called my doc. He felt that I was swelled up from my stuck episode and he put me back on liquids. I stayed on liquids Wednesday and Thursday then on Friday I had mashed potatoes, potato salad and some really tender grilled chicken. It all went down with no problems. Saturday I stuck with soft foods again and then I yesterday I ate like normal. I had spiral ham, fresh raw brocolli, carrot sticks and cucumbers, some Beans and some Pork carnita meat. It all went down just fine- no problems, no pain. This morning I had my coffee and took my medications and I was fine. At 11 am I tried to eat some Chobani yogurt. I got 3/4 of it down and I started feeling sick/stuck. I ended up throwing up. I thought maybe I ate it too fast so at 2 pm I tried some small bites of ham. It hurt going down and I threw it up. I called my doc's office and the receptionist put me in for tomorrow at 10 am. She says it sounds like I'm too tight. My last fill was 2 weeks ago. Since then I've gone out to eat and had normal meals and I had normal meals yesterday. So what's up? Do you think I'm eating too fast or am I really too tight/full? In the past 14 days I have been able to eat normally for only 5 of them. How come I was fine on those days and then so stuck on others?

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!

I find that I don't have issues with food so far. I'm 2 weeks out and can eat 6 oz yogurt, a whole scrambled egg etc, a whole Protein shake, 4oz cottage cheese etc. I just go slow and eat the amount that's pre packaged. Sent from my iPhone using VST

Hi , am following the milk and yogurt liver shrinkage diet .It's 8-10 no fat diet yogurts (60 cals each ) and 1 pint of semi skimmed milk shakes .Has anyone else done this or is doing it now ? thanks x

Still doing relatively okay. No energy though. The clear liquid diet leaves a lot to be desired. Thankfully tomorrow I can start with protein shakes, yogurt and creamy strained soups. I think that I have finally gotten past the gas stage. Last night I didn't need and GasX or heating pad and only had 1 pillow. WOOT WOOT!!! Well, today is another day. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Sorry fellas, I think this may be a ladies-only type of question!! I noticed in the last couple of days that my band has felt more restricting. I haven't had a fill recently, and in fact, I am supposed to be getting one on Tuesday, Feb 7th (which now, I am figuring that we will just put-off for another month or so). My last fill was December 17th and it was 3cc in my 10cc band. This is the only fill I have had. I just noticed in the last couple of days (yesterday and today) that I am having trouble getting solids down. Either they will get stuck completely, they come back up, or I have to wait a while for them to go down. When I do get solids down without a problem, they are usually mushier solids (like fluffy eggs, cheese, yogurt, Soups, etc). Well, today I got my period, and I wonder if there is a correlation between getting your period, and the tightening of the band? If not, does anyone know of any other reason why all of a sudden I might be having difficulties? band slipping? I will check with my doc on Tuesday at my appt, but I figured I would ask the forum first! Thanks everyone!

I have a hard time getting don that much liquid with the shakes so I have resorted to protein shots. I have found them at GNC, Vitamin shopp and Walmart. They are about 3 oz and vary in protein content from 25g to 42g. Theyre expensive($2-$3 each) but that's t only way I can even get close to the 60g my dr recommends. I also like Greek yogurt. It's pretty high in protein.

I want to express my appreciation to everyone here on this forum for the support I found after joining and reading about everyone else's experiences. It has been very comforting and reassuring. After trying too many different "diets" that would initially work and I would drop the weight I wanted to get rid of... I would gain it all back and then some. The yoyo dieting took its toll on my health and heart. While I knew about the band I thought it was too drastic and that I should be able to just lose the weight like I've been programmed to by all the radio ads and television ads. With many fears I called and made an appointment to meet Dr Powell. I had a list of questions and he put me at ease and helped me decide that lapband surgery was the right direction. I had my surgery exactly 2 weeks after my initial consultation so I had little time to worry... but I did... and kept doubting that I was making the right decision. I wanted to do this on my own without telling family or friends for fear they would talk me out of it. The surgery center even provided a car to pick me up at home, bring me to surgery, and then return me home after the surgery. I am now 18 days past surgery and except for the first night after surgery - all has been wonderful. I followed my doctors instructions to the letter... only Clear liquids for the first 2 weeks and now I'm able to have yogurt, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, no sugar Jello pudding, and soft Soups. I eat a little something when I need to and find that I need very little to get full. On Aug 11 I weighed 244 going into surgery. I just weighed myself and I'm 221. I met with Dr Powell this week and he was impressed with my progress and basically said to call him when I started to feel "starved" and he would do the first fill. As long as I am not feeling starved and continue to lose weight - the restriction is good enough. I just want to thank everyone on here who shares themselves - this has been a great support system and without all of you I would not be experiencing felling as GREAT as I do today. Thank you.... thank you! Ron

Congrats! You're only two weeks out but it sounds like you are upbeat. It's been a while since I was banded (Nov 08) but I do remember the first few weeks. I'm surprised you were on only a clear liquid diet for the first couple of weeks. I was on clear liquids and protein shakes - my doc said protein helped heal quicker. Here's what I say, and no I am not a doctor, but if you can't eat solid foods no one says you have to. Have protein shakes instead of solid foods if you can't get solids down. One of my favorite protein subs is greek yogurt (plain) but I throw in some flavored protein powder. It makes a great vanilla or chocolate yogurt! Fish is also great, and pretty mushy. My doctor also recommended only adding one new thing per meal to see if I could handle it. That being said, maybe stick with the foods you know you can handle. There was some stuff I couldn't eat immediately after my surgery that I am back to eating again just fine. Don't worry for right now about getting in too much variety. As for the general lack of hunger, I felt that too. I had no idea how I'd get in any of my food or my water with the amount I felt I could consume, because I couldn't possibly take in more. Once the swelling in your belly goes down, it'll loosen up a bit and you'll be able to take in more. Are you taking vitamins? Those will be important especially if you can't get in all your foods. I still take mine every day. It sounds like you're doing great! Everyone's got questions, but it does sound like you're overall upbeat about your banded life so far, and I'm happy for you! Just remember you can only do as much as you can do. This is all new to you and you're getting your bearings. Soon it'll become just a regular part of your routine. Best of luck to you, and I'm here for you!

It's normal to not feel much restriction the first several weeks following surgery. I sure can identify with that feeling that you need to eat something. When that urge hit me so strong I couldn't stand it anymore, I cooked some Cream of Wheat that I had put two scoops of chocolate Protein powder in, so it tasted like Malto Meal. Yum! Just make it kind of soupy -- you don't want to risk slippage of your band. One time I tossed in a sliced banana and cooked it with the Cream of Wheat. After being on liquids, I never had anything so good! Or try a small jar of baby meat. You will probably need to salt it, but it will taste real good. You should not be eating bread this early in the game - that is very risky! You could microwave a little frozen strawberries or blueberries, mash them up real well and add some skim ricotta cheese or greek yogurt and some artificial sweetner. Eat it slowly with a baby spoon. Make it last at least 15 to 20 minutes. I also had no problem with scrambled egg when I was supposed to be on liquid. You generally will lose a lot weight on the liquid diet because the lack of bad carbs may put your body into Ketosis. When I hit that stage, I was losing a pound a day. You can tell if you are in Ketosis because you will have a horrible taste in your mouth that you can't get rid of, and you may feel nauseated. Ketosis is how people lose so much weight who are on the Atkins and other low carb diets. It's okay to lose weight like that for a little while, but when I couldn't take it anymore, I ate a can of potato soup to take myself out of ketosis. Since I didn't feel any restriction the first weeks after surgery, my doctor gave me my first fill on my one-month followup. It helped a lot. Then he gave me my 2nd fill yesterday on my 6 week visit. I'm having a little trouble with too much restriction I think, because I'm having trouble even drinking Water. I have to eat and drink standing up, so I may have to go get the doc to take a little out of the band. Hang in there. Time will pass quickly. It's important that you let yourself heal before adding too many solid foods. Try one thing at a time to see what you can tolerate. It's different for everyone.

Is anyone terrified to put something in their mouth at the fear it will hurt you?? well that’s me. I’m scared to death to move onto another food. im 4 weeks today and been eating yogurt, that’s it. i did however eat a scrambled egg as I’m on stage 4, so far so good. Let me tell you this, I will never be fat again, I will always remember this torture

My menu for today, at 4 weeks out: Breakfast: Premier shake 160 cals, 30 protein Snack: Chobani Greek "hint of Strawberry" yogurt 120 cals. 12 protein Lunch: 1/5 of a hormel prepared meal with 20 g of protein 200 Cals, 10 protein Snack: Turkey/cheese roll up 142 cals 5 protein Dinner: 1/2 serving of bariatric cookbook "Egg Roll in a bowl" 134 cals, 10 protein Snack: 1/2 Premier shake 80 cals, 15 protein I try to get between 800 and 100 cals per day, but some days I don;t make it. I ALWAYS make my 75 or more of protein. Today looks like about 830 cals, 82 protein, 42 net carbs, 8 fiber, 27 fat. I am losing about .65 pounds per day according to my app. I have not yet stalled, although I'm sure I will.

At three months I was still on soft foods and could eat about 1.5 oz of dense protein or 2 ounces of very soft food like yogurt. I remember going out to dinner and ate one medium-large sized scallop and could not take another bite. At six months I could eat about 2 ounces of dense protein such as chicken breast or turkey burger, Maybe 2.5 ounces of slightly moister meat such as grilled salmon. At a year out I could eat 3 ounces of dense protein. At 3+ years out I can eat 3 ounces of dense protein + 1.5 oz green veggies. High carb slider foods I can eat almost unlimited amounts, which is why I try very hard to just avoid them and not start -- because there is almost no stopping point. You cannot count on this surgery to restrict how many cookies or crackers you can eat -- at least not for long. Some people do keep that type of restriction, but many don't -- so don't count on it to keep you in line after the first several months.

Hello, I just wanted to share my story. I was on a fb group through the weight center that did my surgery on 12/5 but they didn't let me share my story. I went in for my sleeve surgery but shortly after while in recovery my BP dropped really low, I started sweating badly and my skin/eyes turned gray. They gave me a blood transfusion which brought my BP back up. I was brought in for an emergency surgery because I was bleeding out. They said leaked 3 liters of blood and had multiple large dark blood clots in my stomach. I was bleeding and oozing through the staples so they double stitched me and cauterized some of the stomach. Since the 2 surgeries I have had very high pulse, which they call Tachycardia. Also, I am anemic. I also get this uncontrolled diaphram spasm where it makes me gasp for air. The 1st week it hurt to swallow anything, even a sip of water. I started to get pain up my throat so they gave me heartburn meds which helped that matter. I went home after spending a few nights at the hospital but quickly after I was home I went back into the ER for low BP and dehydration. I am home again now, monitoring my BP. I am taking fluids ok and getting my proteins in. I still have to drink slow but I am able to. You can feel/hear every sip go down and every pill go down. I still get times where there is pressure from air stuck under the rib cage and the pain goes up to my shoulder. They just ok'd me to start cream soups, yogurt and cottage cheese 2 days ago. I get full really fast. I just wanted you to know that the 1% they warn you about can happen. It happened to me and I cry myself to sleep about the events that happened every time I close my eyes. It was very scary to go through. They said it will take about 6 weeks for my body to rebuild its own blood back up. Your body rejects some of the transfusion since it isn't your blood. Until then I get weak, dizzy and lightheaded every time I get up to walk around and my pulse goes really high and my heart beats out of my chest. I have a couple of mins to walk or shower and then I need to lay back down to catch my bearings. I am starting to get color back in my lips on occasion. The most important thing is I keep fighting to get up every day, walk a little and drink my fluids in order to get better. They tell you that you need support at home and I live alone so I was worried. They are right, you can't do this alone. After the ER trip it helped to have my parents coming in to remind me to keep drinking and to do things around the house that I couldn't. Thank you for listening. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

No blended foods for me either! My diet plan went from liquids to soft proteins. During this phase I ate canned tuna, canned chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and plenty of feesh white fish.

Lucky you... 1. Day I ate the scramble egg with whole wheat toast went down great. Now I can't eat bread. Or eggs. 4 spoons yogurt I was full. Not gonna buy more to eat 4 spoons. Your doing excellent keep it up

So, I'm curious. After surgery, when do you generally see the weight loss start up? 1 week after? 2 weeks? I'm not sure if I'm not losing because of barely getting nutrients in, the fact that there's probably still IV fluids in me or if it's the swelling. All I'm eating are broth, Jello and popsicles. I did eat a little bit of Greek yogurt today and drank a little medicine cup full of a Protein shake.

Probably the only reason I don't have that issue is because I have EOS (it's an autoimmune disorder that causes narrowing in the throat and can cause choking) and because of that for the past few years I've eaten really, really, really slowly because choking freaks me out and after wayyyy too many ER visits with food stuck in my throat I finally got a clue. 😓 My advice, take smaller bites and chew your food to MUSH before swallowing. If you are eating foods that you don't need to chew (yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.) then just take a small bite and then set the food aside for 30 seconds to a minute before taking another bite. Still keep with the small bites.

I'm exactly the same as you, the odd food seems to go down slower and feels stuck but it passes quickly. For Breakfast I've been having yogurt with a couple tablespoons of raisin bran and 3 diced up strawberries, lunch 4 triscuits with low fat cheese,salsa and 6 cherries, supper grilled chicken and vegies. I'm sticking to their instructions to have 3 1/2-1c meals but they are not keeping me full till the next meal. Also I'm only hitting about 750 calories a day doing this? Do you think its okay to add a 4th meal just to get up to 1000 calories??? I might end up going to Thunder Bay for my first fill but its a 3 hr drive each way. SWLC sent my physician a video, learning package and all the equipment he`ll need to do my fills. Honestly he is a brilliant man! Do you know if there is anyone in Sault Ste. Marie, I`m going that way for holidays in just over a week.

Well... I tend to measure by volume, not weight. A pound is 16 ounces. A cup is 8 ounces. So 4 ounces of meat is about 1/2 a cup. My Breakfast is usually a container of greek yogurt with 2 or 3 spoonfuls of Kashi GoLean Cereal sprinkled on top. lunch can be a small can of chicken (mine are 3 ounces) mixed with low-fat mayo, and I use 5 or 6 celery sticks to scoop it up and eat it. dinner... it's a piece of meat about the size of a deck of cards and a cup or so of salad.

I had canned turkey chili liquified in the blender with Greek yogurt mixed in and it was HEAVEN! The Greek yogurt tastes just like cream cheese and chili and cream cheese is my favorite dip.

I was so nervous that I just didn't even read any of the negative possibilities. I am 6 weeks out and I feel the best I have in years! I too have been doing so much more than I have in the past. I am extremely excited for the future. The advise I would give it to stick to the diet plan they have for you. My program was Clear liquids for a day. I had trouble even getting liquids down. I just didn't care at all about eating or drinking. I wasn't sick or feeling down just didn't want to eat or drink. 2nd day - week 3 went to "full Liquid" diet. Yogurt, Protein drinks and the like. Week 4 - 5 pureed foods. Week 6 - 7 as the weeks have gone the Water is easier to get down. Soft foods this week. I am looking forward to the change to soft foods. I have lost 64 lbs by following this plan. Be careful of saying it won't hurt me to have this. Your stomach isn't ready for it. I wish you the best of luck. You CAN do this! I also suggest you have a great support team to keep you on your path!