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Try frozen fruit if you can or a yogurt, usually helps!

There's a lot of changes that occur within the first 6 months that are truly just learning to eat with the sleeve, facing the mental and emotional challenges of not being able to eat like we did pre-op, and some side effects/symptoms do not hit all of us. I wasn't prepared to have zero appetite. I knew I'd lose my hunger, but I wasn't prepared to hate food. After years of loving food in large quantities, many huge meals, it was definitely a huge change to all of a sudden dread eating. It wasn't because eating was painful or uncomfortable, I simply hated the way things tasted. Nothing sounded good, nothing smelled good, everything was just blah. I had to force myself to eat, and had to really get creative just to be able to eat. It didn't last, but it was a very trying time for me. I also had to set an alarm on my phone that would remind me to eat. My appetite did return, my tastebuds went back to how they were pre-op. Food did taste good again, but it took some time. Essentially, eating became a chore. It did help change my relationship with food. I learned to eat to live instead of living to eat. I became lactose intolerant which was not fun. Yogurt and cheese was about the only thing I could eat. Protein drinks were out. whey is a milk product so anything with whey made me puke. I tried the other varieties of protein soy, and veggie Proteins, but they were disgusting. I was prepared for the hair loss, I was prepared for the small portions, chewing everything to mush, and eating slowly. I had most of the eating learning curve beat because of my band experience. When anyone asks me for pre-op advice, I tell them the same things: stretch your meal out to 20 minutes, stop drinking with your meals now, and don't drink for 30 minutes after your meal, eat your meat first, switch over to a salad plate to cut your portions down, put your eating utensil down in between bites to help slow down your meal, when eating out get a to-go box as soon as your food is delivered and divide the meal in half, box up half of it to take home. Start drinking 60+ ounces of clear fluids now because it's a tough a habit to get into, but it's essential post-op. My other advice is to confront your food issues before you have surgery. This will help with the food funerals, mourning the loss of being able to eat big meals, figure out what works for you. I had a different mindset than some other vsg'ers. I wanted to get to goal quickly and worry about maintenance when I got there. I was super strict with food choices through my losing phase. BUT, I knew that I would not be in deprivation mode for the rest of my life. I think it worked best for me. Best wishes! ! !

Immediately Post-Op (in the hospital) I could not pee. The anesthesia slowed my system down I guess, and I had to be straight-cathed twice in the hospital, just so I could pee. That pretty much sucked and wasn't expected. I had some anxiety and anxiousness for a few days in the hospital and at home... like restless, walk from chair to chair to bed, time ticking on slowly, not knowing what to do with myself. That was weird and thankfully settled down by post-op day 5. When I started to transition to pureed foods (from clear liquids) I had nausea and had trouble. Had to go back to Clear liquids for a day or so and start over. vanilla yogurt and scrambled eggs was the best "1st foods" that worked for me. Not too bad, if these were my only complications. I'd say I had a pretty okay time, compared to other things I've read that could happen. Good luck to you!

Okay my doctor requires you to do 10 days pre-op liquid diet. I am on day 4...my surgery is scheduled for next Thursday at 7am. I AM SO HUNGRY I could put salt and ketchup on the dog and eat her! I never really noticed how many fast food commercials were on TV...but now it seems it's all I hear and see. Any suggestions? I am so tired of sugar free Jello, Sugar Free Fudgicles, Soup broth, Crystal Light, Diet Coke and Light Yogurt. (SIGH...I want a cheesburger SOOOO bad)

Hey all. Not sure if you all remember me, I was the girl that might have the problem with insurance. Turns out they said they'd cover til the end of the month so my surgery was covered. My follow-up appt wont be covered do to the switch to my new insurance, but they said they'll back date it... so yeah!! March 20th was the D-day... so I'm officially 5 days post op!! Anyhow... they said I did great. My liver was enlarged and fatty... big surprised. I was in recovery FOREVER waiting on a room but it was worth the wait... had an AMAZING recovery nurse and the room was HUGE... felt like I was in a hotel. Lol. New furniture and all. (they just opened their own bariatric wing this year at hopkins). The over night nurse was wonderful and she had a trainee with her who was just as great. They were RIGHT on top of it, if I need ANYTHING. I was nausated for a good day afterwards... plenty of anti-nausea medication!!! The gas pain didnt start til I was post-op two days but is finally gone. I'm getting liquids down more now. Easier. How do people get enough Protein in at this stage? I'll put some in my carnation instant Breakfast. I plan to add it to things when I'm doing puree starting Friday. :thumbup: My left side is starting to really bother me at times. Like out of the blue I'll get a pain from around my port. Can't WAIT for that to be over. :tongue: I am sooo tired of yogurt, pudding, chicken broth, and crystal light I could scream. I can not wait to just have some mashed potatoes, bananas, heck even some baby food looks yummy at this point. I just just cant wait to be able to choose alittle more of what I can eat!!

I agree with those who say that we all lose at different rates, and I don't know that speed is of the essence, as already stated, because we didn't gain the weight overnight, why worry about losing it overnight. In my case, I was banded 3/25/08. My doctor put me on a full liquid (includes Protein shakes, yogurt, sugar/fat free jello/pudding/popsicles, cream Soups, broths) diet with a small amount of lean protein to ease the transition, then four days before surgery liquids only. Post op 2 weeks full liquids, 2 weeks mushies, then slowly transition to regular food, depending on tolerance. I ended up spending 3 weeks pre op because I caught a cold and they postponed my surgery a week. I had mentally prepared myself that I would be hungry somewhat during the day, and I saved my lean protein for the evening when I tended to eat the most. I had unbreaded chicken tenders that I grilled on a small George Foreman grill and hard cooked eggs as my lean protein treat. I would have 2 tenders or 2 eggs. I had increased my exercise from just Curves to walking in a nearby park (for distance, not so much for speed--I carry peanuts and stop to feed the squirrels). By the time I started the liquids the weight was already starting to drop some, but it picked up steam with the diet. The dietician said it was to jump start the weight loss and prepare me for the post op diet. By the time I had surgery I had lost around 40 pounds and it is still coming off. I entered Onederland this morning (weight below 200). I weighed in at 199.2. I am delighted and it really helped my motivation to see the weight drop. I started at 252 last June (had to do a 6 month diet for insurance--lost all of 10 pounds on that) and my goal is 150, so I am well on my way. If you are comitted to the process, and doing what the dietician tells you, I think you can lose 100 pounds with the band. You will get out of it what you put into it.

Well, 1000-1200 is also my target range for calories. I also end up with a bit of constipation from not getting in enough fiber, and I usually deal with that by mixing a little bran Cereal into some yogurt. Right now I'm not really targeting a certain protein/fat/carb ratio. I always choose lowfat or nonfat foods & lean meats, so I let it take care of itself. Same with carbs -- most of my carbs come from fruits, veggies, Beans and dairy. When I do choose to eat a bit of bread or rice, it's whole grain. Prior to banding, I had a doc tell me I should be aiming for 40/30/30- 40% carbs, 30% Protein, 30% fat. That's essentially The Zone diet, I think, and there are proponents of that ratio all over the place. At 1200 cals, though, that puts us at 90g of protein a day, which is a tad high I think. US RDA is more like 50g, at least for my height and target weight. For your height & target weight, it's about 58 g. With those workouts you might find 1200 cals a day is even too low. I'm pretty close in height & weight to you and dropping 2 lbs a week eating between 1000-1200, and I only get in about a half an hour of moderate exercise about 4-5 times a week.

The Chobani yogurt is excellent if you add a packet of Splenda. I also ate some mashed potatoes that I added some unflavored protein powder and extra skim milk to make them thinner. I made a leek and potato soup that I pureed with a stick blender and that was satisfying. I poured some in a soup mug then added the chicken soup (Unjury) flavored protein powder to it. I also made plain oatmeal, and used protein powders to flavor it. I used banana nut bread and cinnamon roll flavored protein mix and it was very tasty. I tried eating some baby food (meats and veggies) and they were awful. I remember tasting it when my kids were babies and thought it was good, but this new stuff is just plain nasty. The dog loves it mixed in with his soft canned food though, so it won't go to waste.

After surgery I would set a timer after I ate and was really strict about the 30 min before and 1 hour after. But now I've loosed up some. It is really hard, especially when you feel like your dying of thirst. My doc told me to listen to my body. A little Water won't hurt. Just be careful. Talk to your doc and ask him what he thinks. One thing I try to do to satisfy that "no drinking during a meal thing" is to eat something very wet....watermelon, yogurt, etc. I think in the long run, once you have wiped out old bad habbits and start to replace them with healthier, lapband friendly habits...things can be eased up on some.

Start of 2 week pre op diet: 385 Day of surgery. 367 Today. 349 36 pounds in 5 weeks, 18 since surgery, guess ill take it lol. Yogurt never tasted better today, did 2 1/2 weeks of liquid diet since surgery. Still trying to get energy up. Went back to work 5 days post op with no problems. Never had pain, nausea or vomiting. Only took pain meds at hospital, never after... Hopefully a smooth track continues, with rapid weightloss...

This far out you should be eating pretty close to a regular diet. I would start with yogurt, oatmeal, mashed potatos, jello and other smushy stuff if you havent transitioned to it yet.

where do you all live that you can get Ethiopian food???? I'm all for trying new things, but they don't have anything like that in my neck of the woods. We just got a middle eastern restaurant. they have zuccinni fritters with fluffy eggs that are to die for. They put greek yogurt on top. YUM! But that's about as unusual as we get round here.....

I was banded on 3/12 and I've eaten regular foods already. So don't worry your not alone. I didn't vomit didn't have a problem. I'm back on liquids and creamed Soups and yogurt. I have lost some but not as much as I am sure I would if I was restricted. Remember we're not rstricted yet so not much has changed...we're healing. Some docs are more crazy about the diets at the beginning than others. We have our minds to change...you're fine...we'll all do it...it a process sharon;)

If you followed the rule about sticking with liquids the first day after a fill and then move slow to the more solid stuff to avoid swelling and you are now having this feeling whith yogurt, then yes, I think you are too tight. If you did not follow the liquids only rule, then you may have caused some swelling. You would be suprised with the results of getting a very tiny bit of an unfill. I'm talking VERY tiny , like .1cc or .2cc . Yes, point one or point two. Not even a half cc.

The only way to kill the sweet craving is to kill the sweets. I was a major sweet eater pre-band and I knew post-band I'd have to get it under control. So, I really cut the sweets big time. If I ate sweet, I ate the real thing. I didn't eat the low-fat, no sugar, fake sugar thing. If I had ONE cookie, I ate a REAL cookie with the sugar in it. The REAL sugars were almost a shock to my system, cause I was so used to eating sugar-free. The odd thing is, REAL sugar is much more satisfying to me than fake. Fake sugars make me crave more and more and more. Real sugars.. I need just a bit. I still practice this principle. I have banned fake sugars from our household. We are primarily whole food, organic eating people. But if we eat sweet, we do it real. If we eat fat, we eat fat. We have whole milk, whole yogurt, etc. No one has gained weight, and I've steadily lost. So, that was basically a big tangent. The moral of the story is... cut the sweets till you get control of yourself and then you can slowly reintroduce. And FRUIT is highly underestimated... My favorite SWEET is an orange. Mmmm...

Oh that was a fun stage.... good thing is your not hungry in the begining.. For liquids i did a lot of cream Soups.. my theory was if its more liquified then yogurt im good. So i did do egg drop soup and purify it.. and other soups. For Mushies, life is getting better.. i took chili and mushed it.. VERY GOOD with some cheese on top. I made some crock pot chicken all day long (my fav recipe) then put it in the processor, again looks nasty but tastes the same... I bought a lot of the chunky soups and just mushed them to be honest. A lot of people do refried Beans and cheese.

My nutritionist likes to say there are no "bad" foods, just foods you shouldn't eat as often as others. I tend to agree. I also like to look at this as a lifestyle change and not a diet- I do track calories as well, but just so I know I'm getting enough Protein and sticking to lower calorie. I was also told to have some calorie wiggle room, such as 1000-1200 a day instead of a set number like 1000. Some days you are physically hungrier and need more food than others. Yesterday I was physically experiencing the painful hunger pains even though I had already eaten dinner. I chose to have a yogurt and my hunger was gone.

My doc is OK with it in the mushy/pureed stage. Someof it is higher in protein and lower in sugar (depending on the type) than some of the other things in that stage. For instance, all of the Gerber 2nd Foods meat flavors have 7 to 8g of protein, 0g sugar, 2 to 3g carbs, and about 70 to 80 calories per jar. That ratio actually isn't too far off of some of the protein drinks I have seen, and better than some of the light yogurts and soups that some people eat. However, the fruit and cereal flavors have less protein and more sugar and carbs. Baby food may not be the #1 best choice, but you could definitely do worse in that stage. BUT, I don't know anything about taste.

I am 9 weeks out and have one fill of 3 ccs. I have dealt with acid reflux for years. It flares up from time to time. Prior to the band, I would eat things like red meat or chicken and I could feel it work its way through my digestive system until it eventually cleared. Severe indigestion. Now instead of passing, the indigestion is quite painful and I have to regurgitate. What I have found that I need to do, is take something soft or smooth, like yogurt, cottage cheese, skim milk, a protein drink to "soothe" the tract so that I cans wallow food. If I dont, I have a miseable eating day. A scrambled egg is impossible to get down, I sucked the juice out of a slice of grapefruit and thought I would die. Even swallowing when I brush upsets my stomach. Do the soothing technique and things are fine. Anyone else experience this or reflux? The staff at the doctor's office says that I am eating too fast and taking too big of bites. I think it is more serious than that. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I am getting banded tues as well.. Woohoo. You are lucky cuz this preop diet sucks ! I cannot wait to get to be able to even lick yogurt off a spoon .. Lol

ive never really measured, but i do always eat on a small plate when available. here are a few typical meals for me, and i do tweek them a bit sometimes to break the monotony. i have chosen to not really eat beef or pork either. -small piece of fish and small side salad (i use vinagerette type dressing, with some graded parm. cheese) -a larger salad topped with grilled shrimp, or grilled chicken, or tuna. -whole wheat Pasta or spinach pasta with ground turkey meatballs, and a small salad. as for lunches... -i usually have tuna with lite m.whip, kashi whole grain crackers and whatever ur fav cheese. -sometimes instead of the tuna ill use chicken breast slices or Hormel turkey pepparoni, plus i usually take a kashi granola bar, and a yogurt too.

We just dont really have the anti starch/pro Protein regime here in Australia, its much more an eat normally but in smaller quantities thing. I eat bread, Pasta and rice, but I avoid white varieties, I would never buy prepackaged supermarket bread anymore, I only buy health food shop stuff. I would only eat proper rolled oats, never minute oats or those prepackaged single sachet serves. Um, lets see, yesterday for me: Breakfast - bircher muesli made by soaking 1/4 cup rolled oats in apple juice overnight and in the morning adding some stewed plums and greek yogurt - it was about half a cup. Mid morning I had a skim latte - but a latte here is 1/3 espresso, 2/3 steamed milk, not frothy sweet stuff. lunch was two thin basil and tomato rice cakes with avocado on them and a banana Mid afternoon I had some unsalted cashews, probably about 15 dinner last night was roast pork - a lean pork shoulder baked in the oven, mashed potato/sweet potao and steamed broccoli and cauli. I made dessert too which is not usual - plum crumble (basically baked cut up plumbs with a topping of rolled oats, sugar and butter). I had about 1/2 cup of the roast - tiny bit of meat, spoonful of mash, a piece each of broccoli and cauli and then about 1/4 of a cup of crumble with a bit of low fat custard, half an hour later. I also had a small glass of white wine. this morning I did something a bit naughty and had about 1/4 cup of the plum crumble for breakfast - well really, its fruit, oats and a bit of sugar, but I had some yogurt with it, not custard. Mid morning I had a skim latte again. Lunch was about 1/4 cup total of left over pork and mash with some gravy and about 1/4 cup of mixed berries with a dash of cream. dinner tonight we're having a chicken curry with brown rice. So you can see, I eat completely normal food, I indulge a little bit in a few things that are nice, I drink alcohol moderately, but I do it all in pretty small quantities. I absolutely love banded life, it was the best thing I ever did.

Hi guys, I'm still pre-op but have been doing lots of youtubing to check out how others are doing with their lap band. I came across a wonderful channel its Anume1109. Check it out when you get a chance. She has lots of WLS recipes. One of the things that she has on there is Trader Joe's Peanut Flour. I just didi a comparison in my cabinet and regular Peanut Butter has 16g of fat and 7g of Protein and the peanut flour has 4 grams of fat and 16 grams of protein. She mixes it with greek yogurt and agave nectar and it's a whoping 32 grams of protein for Breakfast. Just wanted to share that. That gurl

These are things suggested by my nutritionist for the mushy stage: Baby food pureed fruits and veggies Low fat creamed spinach Applesauce Pureed Squash Cream of Wheat, Farina, runny oatmeal Mashed Potatoes Fish, flakey, fork mashed "wet" Tuna fish or egg salad fork mashed or blended well with low fat Mayo Non fat refried Beans Silken tofu Blended chicken or meatballs Low fat milk low fat yogurt Ricotta cheese, cottage cheese sugar free pudding Blended Soups I was craving Pasta, so made egg pastina, its small and mushy too. If I were you, I would check with your doctor/nutritionist because as you can tell by reading posts, every doctor has their own interpretation of the post opt meals and you don't want to do something he/she may not recommend, even though this is what my doctor recommended.

Although I don't have really great restriction, I have some and what I have found to be really easy to eat, especially for breakfast or snack is some greek yogurt with berries of all kinds and maybe some banana with granola and splenda. It's so yummy and easy to eat.