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what should we be intaking for the pre op diet..... is it just protein shakes and broths? and has anyone heard of iso-pro low carb? I am thinking about buying that for my preop diet/ post op.. any advice?

chicken broth saved my life during my liquid diet. I know some companies have a savory Protein Soup mix instead of the shakes. You will look back in a couple of months and know you struggled, but you also know it paid off. You will thank yourself for everything you did. It's funny I went to lunch and ordered steamed veggies and the amount of butter they were in was disgusting. I remember choking down the same veggies 6 months ago and thinking how flavorless these veggies were. Something happened to me. I don't understand it!!

They seem to see cheaper at Walmart. They also have a better selection than some of the grocery stores in my area. saw your username and knew you were upper east side. I'm in the West Village. I had lapband a little over a year ago. hope you are doing well. I stay away from frozen meals...lots of sodium even in the 'healthier' meals. I'll tell you what I do. I go to Citarella or Westside Market and buy their prepared food...fish and chicken mostly. I freeze the Protein into 3 oz. portions. I also get veggies there as well and freeze them in 1/2 cup amounts. I add some carbs...potato or rice...not much...about 1/4 cup and I have several ready to eat meals that are better than the TV dinner type meals. I havent learned to put my own meals together yet, still trying to figure this all out. Mainly looking to avoid sugars and fats, also watching carbs too.Nice to have a neighbor nearby, perhaps I can learn a few things about your shopping in Manhattan. FYI: I left the UES for Wash Hts about 2 yrs ago, I just been using this username for so long, I can't get myself to change it.

Thanks for the advice The Advocare have only 24 grams of Protein and 12 grams of sugar!

And this would be an example of how very different eating plans are between clinics. I also had the Roux-en-y and I live in Minnesota. The test to be able to leave the hospital was to be able to drink a Protein shake without issue (a sip at a time over several hours). I went home on full liquids for one week. Weeks two and three were soft / pureed foods. At week four I graduated to a regular soft diet. Portions were very limited for the first three months. Only 3 tablespoons of protein and 1 tablespoon of a fruit,vegetable or starch. Up to six months my protein intake was under 60 grams per day. It then slowly increased to where I am today, 80 - 90 grams per day. I should now be eating about 1 cup of food at each meal. I will be one year post op on June 25th. Call your clinic tomorrow for clarification. They should be able to explain the rules of YOUR plan. Carol

How much are you able to drink/eat? It sounds like you are not even able to hold much liquid- is that right? (you said you have no more room for more water.) I'd add at LEAST one more shake to your diet. Those things are what, 150 calories, tops? During the liquid/mushy stage you don't have to restrict that so much (in my opinion.) You might also try to add some vanilla greek yogurt. 110-150 calories- 14-17 g of Protein. And it'll give you some carbs- which will help the dizzy feeling go away (your brain needs some carbs.)

In the dead center of your chest it feels like theres a ball sitting there. You hesitate breathing momentarily. You try to swallow, no budge. If it's the first time it may seem like a pill that went down too dry so you think downing a bit of liquid will help NO. It's scary, the wait for the food to go down sucks, once that wait gets too long you think of other options. The only other real one is to bring back up what you can. For me if I don't end up bringing it back I know it's over when I can burp again. To answer your question generally yes that's where you'll feel it.

I also suggest edamame pasta. High in protein... Amazingly, being Italian, I do not want or crave pasta products. I'll take it as a gift. I've eaten my share of pasta in my previous life... It was cheap and I was kinda poor. It worked to fill me up...to the tune of 249 lbs! I am thankful to not have issues with my band For almost 9 years.. It scares me a bit when I read of all the complications here. I read in studies 1/2 the banders no longer have their band after 10 years. I am hopeful by keeping it a bit under inflated and not challenging it that I can go on with my healthy life????

Hi Everyone Its my 3rd week after my operation & I have to say it's been really tough for me. I've been feeling very tired a lot & my mood & moral has been extremely low. As for food I've not really been that bothered sometimes & I've had to force myself to eat as I've had no appetite. I managed to eat a very child size sandwich this evening with no crusts as I made sure it had Protein in it. I know I'm not supposed to eat like that yet; but I'm really struggling to get protein & other things I need in to my diet. Partly because I have no energy & I'm not interested in cooking atm; even tho I used to love to cook, I'm generally so down in myself & due to personal / relationship & family issues, I'm struggling to motivate myself to do anything. Does this pass as even tho I love healthy food; I've lost all interest in food & life :'(

Today is my third week post-op. I'm still struggling trying to get 64 ozs of fluid and a minimum of 60 gms of protein which I actually mix with my drinks. For me that is first priority and food is second. The doctor was okay with that. I do try to eat, a couple of tablespoons of tuna, cottage cheese, yogurt, egg, soft boiled or poached, refried beans with low fat cheese melted and mixed with the beans, sf pudding, sf jello, sf popsicles, and thinking of trying sf fudgesicles. I am allowed some other things at this point but just haven't built myself up to trying them. Also I get my vitamins in. My energy level is doing okay, mental status is good, I'm back to working starting last week. But will say, each day gets better regarding my stamia. I can also tell when I'm not getting enough protein as feel it in the muscles. Classic sign for me is to raise my arms up and I can feel them get tired almost immediately. I'm a happy camper that I've had this surgery. But need to win the lottery as I need new clothes, because everything is falling off and I don't want to invest because at the rate I'm losing I'll be buying new clothes every couple of weeks.

Jay's Egg White protein powder. Chocolate taste really good. I got it at Vitamine Shop.

Early Wednesday morning and I am still awake as usual. I wake, therefore I write. I weigh on Monday mornngs and otherwise avoid the scales because it would just make me crazy. This Monday morning I weighed 207. Things are still moving in the right direction. Last night I gave a reading of my short stories and poetry at a local music and literature event that happens each summer. It's fun- I get feedback on my work and $100 for 45 minutes of reading. A friend of mine took a picture of me last night and showed it to me today. There is less of me than there was, though I still look pretty soft and spongy. I wondered if it is really possible that I shall eventually dig myself out of all this too, too solid flesh and if a thin person might actually emerge in time. It won't be the same person that emerged the last time I lost weight- for one thing I am six years older and even in the normal course of events, certain parts of me would be heading south by now. I'm a bit afraid I might wake up one morning and discover I am a thin person hiding inside a fat person's skin, and I don't have the financial resources to have a lot of excess skin sculpted away. On the positive side, I don't have a lot of stretch marks to indicate damage and I didn't have a lot of loose skin the last time I lost a significant amount of weight. On the negative side- well, no reason to belabor the batwings or relaxed throat that come with five and a half decades of life even in some of my thin friends. It will be what it will be, and even so will be better than hauling around the equivalent of my fourth grade self on my body. A loss of 33 pounds is just beginning to really show to other people, but I feel much better living inside my body. I move better, dancing is easier, my horse doesn't have such a load to carry, and my jeans need to be replaced pretty soon. I saw the doc last week as planned and told him that I was still dealing with some issues including carbonated beverages. He asked, "Do you drink the high octane stuff?" I thought he meant caffienated, but he meant sugar. Told him no, I haven't drunk sugared soft drinks since Tab came out about a hundred years ago. He said, "Then what's the problem?" I explained I'd read and been told that the carbonation caused stomach stretching. He smiled and said that was usually more of a problem with the gastric bypass than with banding and not to worry about drinking occasional diet soft drinks. That made me quite happy as I love carbonated drinks, including things like Perrier and lime, and it makes life easier and more pleasant to not have to work to give them up altogether. DISCLAIMER: I am not suggesting anyone else should or should not imbibe diet soft drinks and I am not particularly interested in discussing the pros and cons of diet soft drinks. We shall now return to our irregularly scheduled blog. I have discovered there are some things I can no longer eat and the reality actually bothers me less than the anticipation of having to give them up. Black pepper Trisket crackers don't sit well, with or without Brie cheese. Microwaved chicken breast is a seriously bad idea. Hamburger patties are on the way out of my life, which is just as well since I really liked hamburgers and ate a lot of them before banding. French fries aren't too bad in small amounts, but what good are french fries without hamburgers? Most bread is a problem, though toast seems to be okay. This was one of the biggies for me- man may not live by bread alone, but it was a pretty serious part of my diet. Still, pain and foaming are excellent incentives to give up certain foods, and I find it bothers me less as time goes on. On the positive side, I can still eat rice and angel hair spaghetti and I am learning to eat fruit so that the fibrous membranes don't trip me up. Cheese and low fat low sugar pineapple sherbert are still edible, though I have to be careful not to eat all my meals in some form of frozen milk and eggs. That'll probably get easier as the weather cools off and as I figure what else I can eat without causing myself problems. One step at a time; I'm not going to freak out because of a chocolate malt every couple of weeks. I am not a person who can eliminate all fats and sugar from my diet; eating an occasional small package of cocoanut M&Ms is not going to set me back, but I also need to not become complacent about the amount of sweets I eat. Getting enough protein has always been a problem for me and even more so now, but I'm working on it. I've been eating a fair number of almonds because they are easy to chew up and get down. Well, this has been a remarkably boring entry, but it helps me to line some things out on paper in order to see where I am so I know where to go next. I haven't eliminated all problems from my diet, but the good old LAP-BAND®® keeps me from eating too much of anything. I realized this week that I am stopping when I feel full instead of finishing that last bite of ice cream or the second half of a sandwich. "Clean your plate" was hardwired into my psyche sometime early in life along with the idea if you fail to eat what someone puts in front of you their feelings may be hurt because food=love and affection. For years I've known intellectually this isn't true, but tell that to my inner child. Maybe she's finally getting restructured. Off to bed. I have several newspaper articles to write tomorrow and need to get up before noon to do the research. Blessed be.

Sometimes sorbital in fruits can and will upset your stomach, my dietician said no veggies or fruits during this pre op diet.. My first week I was on my high protein diet, my body was going through withdrawls (stomach pains), but then it subsided.

They are OK to drink, but really not much protein. Syntrax nectar has a whole line of flavors with a water/juice consistency instead of a thick shake. 23g protein per scoop. I add my own fiber supplement to my protein drinks.

0 point veggies and 2 servings of 4oz Orange-juice or 6saltines and 4 Protein shakes

Wow how easy it is to slip back into bad habits! I've lost about 50 lbs with 20-30 to go but I'm looking pretty good and fitting into old clothes so I guess I started to get lazy or cocky...or both. Started scrimping on the exercise and adding carbs and all day grazing. Not gaining (thank you Lord!) but stopped losing months ago. That all day snacking at my desk on breadsticks no less turns out to be due to not eating a proper meal! Today I went to lunch and ordered half a sandwich without the bread and I was stuffed and couldn't eat for hours. Protein FIRST - the golden rule - I'd simply forgotten! My sleeve works great when I follow the directions! Hardly a ground breaking revelation but it was enough to turn me back around and get back on the program and plan ahead. And stop buying carby Snacks that I shouldn't have near me anyway. Well that felt good to say! Not sure anyone else is in the same boat but maybe it will encourage someone.

Hummus, cottage cheese, soft cheese, greek yogurt, beans, tuna, baked fish, ... You need to get your protein and water in.

5 weeks post op. Starting weight was185 lbs. I'm 5'3", 65, and had problems w asthma attacks, sleep apnea, acid reflux, etc. Thats why i went thru the procedure. Expensive for just 50 lbs. Already lost 16 lbs. My surgery went very well, surgeon also found a hernia & removed it. For 3 weeks just liquids, then puree, then softfoods. I was very weak last week incl Saturday; almost fainted at the Nail Salon. This week i seem to b a lot better. Increased food intake. Now im trying to let Protein in my system. I love carbs, miss them tremendously, specially rice. (Latino upbringing, rice n Beans being the main course, animal products just a side dish). I drink a lot of liquid yogurt, liquid Coco Protein, etc. My only concern is that my upper abdomen is bulged. Contents take a long time to go down. Also miss Water w my meals. I need suggestions on nonbulging foods that taste good. Tired of Soups, liquid yogurt. I need food. Any help would b appreciated. Thank you. L Sent from my SM-N900T using the BariatricPal App

Increase water and calories along with exercise. And consider a scale that measures lean and fat. Watching fat percentage go down is more productive than watching weight. Oh, and body measurements too. I'm eating 1600 calories daily now and losing weight. I'm 5'9" and 147 pounds (down from 237). I hope to end up eating close to 2000 per day, with an active lifestyle. I'm 7 months post op. I eat only Whole Foods--lots of veggies, lean protein, fruit, whole grains. Feeling fabulous and only 7 pounds from goal. Daily exercise is key for me.

my surgery date is April 2 an I started n my 2 week saturday 3 days early I can have 1 small meal a day an 2 protein shakes an so far i have lost 7lbs in 4 days so I guess I am doing something right, So far it has been easier than I thought it would be Good Luck !!

Awesome!!! We do need to help each other out I have to do 2 weeks of protein shakes only and I'm on day 3. Talking about going slow!! I wish it was going fast lol

Got banded 11-5-08 was a bit more difficult than I expected-I even started to feel that maybe I made a mistake-anyway i am afraid to drink my protein shakes s all I have had is some chicken broth and water afaid I will drink to much and will throw up-any words of wisdo:confused:m?

I like Unjury brand for protein powder to make shakes. The other brands I tried were gross or had fillers and things other than whey protein isolate as the protein source.

Thanks guys I just don't want to stretch my stomach , I was so thirsty I drank 100mls of protein shake fairly quickly and I felt so sick like I was going to vomit so I keep being afraid of going overboard!

I got home last night from revision surgery and have been sipping away. My goal is 64oz including my Protein that I mix with Water. I have the 8oz deer park individuals so I can easily tell how much I have drank. I am writing it all down so I can see my process. Also I write down if I liked the protein or not. I drink plain water and water with mio. I write down all my feelings too. If I drank to fast or if it feel sick. Which I have not gotten sick yet. It is a learning process for us all. You may want to try the fruity Protein drinks Matrix makes them I had the fuzzy navel today and it wasn't bad. It may help quench your thirst.