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@@genise82 - It's taken me 4 mths to find a Protein powder I like. I finally tried Isopure Naked whey. Also known as unflavored protein. The only ingredient is whey protein isolate (26 gms per scoop). I mix it in my hot tea, in my soup, in 50/50 diluted apple juice and in my greek yogurt. I even mixed it in Water. It made it cloudy but didn't change the taste.

Afternoon, All! I am definately tighter in the morning. Around my TOM it gets worse - I often go to liquids in the morning for a few days. I normally can't eat anything solid until around 11 am. I will have yogurt or Cereal in the morning (sometimes even cereal won't work), or if I'm super-tight, a Protein shake. lunch is usually okay for a salad or Soup, but nothing too heavy - sandwiches are out at this point, and anything more than a saltine gets stuck. dinner is my most "open" time, so I have to be careful not to overdo it then... I'm 8 months out (banded in mid-November 08) and you can see my progress on my ticker. I've had 3 or 4 fills, I forget which, and I think I'm at my sweet spot. Losses are pretty regular...loving it so far.

During preop and immediately post op doctors have you drink Protein shakes to get nutrition. Pre op doctors have you eat only protein so as to force the body to burn the fat in the liver so it is easier to move during surgery. After surgery you can't eat solids for several week so you need some way to get protein. After I was healed my doctor did not want me eating shakes, instead I should be getting my calories from solid foods. To deal with the possibility of the band being too tight in the morning I eat greek yogurt (which is high in protein, but I add half a scoop of protien powder as well). Once healed you want to avoid slidders (anything that will go right through the pouch into the big stomach) and protein shakes are a slider.

I had a hard time with the soft food phase too. I was REALLY looking forward to a deviled egg, but now eggs make me nauseous, and I was sick of yogurt. Mashed potatoes were allowed, but not encouraged because of the carbs, so I would have mashed potatoes with cheese or with unflavored protein powder and garlic every couple days and Tyson has a flavorful frozen chicken fajita that I heat with bone broth to make it moist and soft and chew the heck out of it. I got bored with refried beans really quick but adding taco sauce and cheese helped. If you like to cook (I don't) you can find a lot of things you can do with foods to make them more appealing. My phase 3 allowed meats other than beef, which was restricted to once a month. I was supposed to work up to it, but I added it pretty quick because I tolerated it well. Maybe you are allowed a turkey burger as long as you chew it really well? I'm the type of person who craves when I can't have something, so I have to allow myself little cheats. I find that as long as I CAN, I can resist better and don't get carried away with the cheating. For example, I craved salt and would occasionally suck on a salt and vinegar chip or 3 until dissolved. Those salt cravings are almost non existent now. Talk with your dietitian about your cravings and alternatives. I confessed to her about the chips and that I found a carb conscious tortilla that I'd use 1/2 of for my refried beans. She was OK with it as long as I showed restraint and tolerated it. Keep those food logs up and don't lie to your dietitian. Being accountable will help you stick to your diet. They are there to help you, not judge you. At the tail end of my phase 3 when they upped my calorie and protein goals she allowed me to add nuts as long as I chew it into peanut butter consistency.

Seckert, Sounds like you are eating about what I am eating. I had some pizza tonight and definitely couldn't eat much. I had chili at lunch and half an english muffin and light yogurt for Breakfast. I too am struggling with the Water. I need to put a reminder on my phone or calendar at work that says "drink up"!! So glad we're all doing so well.. what a difference a couple of months makes, huh?

five years out here. I can eat anything except for really fatty meals. For example, before I had surgery, my husband and I loved to go out for Friday night fish fries. Two or three fish filets, battered or breaded and deep-fried, topped with tartar sauce, with a side of fries and a side of cole slaw made with mayo. That would be a no-go for me now. I'd be in the bathroom getting sick after eating that. I could maybe eat half of a deep-fried fish filet. Anything else I ate with it would have to be non-fatty. but pretty much anything else - yes. Just less of it. I used to be able to eat half a large pizza in one sitting. Now I can eat one or two pieces. but when you think about it - that's the way normal-sized women usually eat (unless they're exercise fiends or were blessed with great metabolism). A few weeks before surgery, I watched what my female co-workers ate for lunch. There were a couple who ate what at the time I would have called a normal lunch. A sandwich, chips, maybe a cookie. Or maybe take-out from a deli or a fast food place. But a majority of them ate things like a sandwich and an apple. Or a sandwich and some baby carrots. Or a thing of yogurt and bagel. Honestly, I think that's just normal in the non-obese world. Unfortunately, I might add... But that's the way I usually eat now, too. I started counting calories when I was about a year out. I still do. As long as I stay at or under 1700 calories most days of the week, I can maintain my weight. I do occasionally go over that - and sometimes by a lot (like on special occasions), but I try to keep that to only special occasions. Most days, I do stay within my range. That calorie range will vary for everyone depending on a lot of factors. But anyway, to address your first concern, yes - I could work ribs into my daily plan and still stay within my range...

I had mine the same day! I was told for the next 2 weeks- it is supposed to be pourable liquid consistency. I have been doing my protein shakes, SF jello, SF ice pops, SF pudding, unsweetened applesauce, thinned greek yogurt and just added some cream soups and broth. I am aiming for 60g of protein today. They told me to worry about water first and then my protein.

I just thought of buffalo sauce in with my greek yogurt ranch... if you like buffalo chicken.

I had my surgery on August 10th and my Doctor and Dietician just this past Wednesday added Greek yogurt and cottage cheese to my shakes and clear fluids. It is getting really hard. I want eggs and mashed potatoes at least.

Hey I never thought of using the Mio drops. I use the Torrini sf syrups or DaVinci sf syrup. I do love the Greek yogurts that have the fruit in them, but the carbs are very high. I have also put SF jam in the plain. It's really good when you add in a little sf pudding mix. The syrups thin out he yogurt but the pudding thickends it back up and makes it quite tasty.

Are you allowed a full liquid diet or just clear? I was on full liquids the first week. I enjoyed low fat/low sugar Greek yogurt (no fruit in it). Light and fit Greek yogurt is good. They have a toasted coconut vanilla that is really good. I was also allowed cottage cheese and ricotta cheese. I mixed both with garlic salt and heated it up in the microwave. Also tomato basil soup mixed with unflavored protein powder. I was sick of the broth before I even left the hospital, so I had to get creative!

Really??? LOL I actually think it's pretty darn different. The standard advice is to eat your protein (and the word "protein" in that context almost always means meat or dairy) first and then if you can fit in other healthy foods, do it. (As you mentioned in your post, fitting in 1-2 oz of broccoli around your protein, maybe, if you have room.) In contrast to this Dr. Weiner strongly emphasizes eating vegetables first and fitting in protein around that. He also recommends plant foods - veggies and legumes and fruit and raw nuts - ahead of meat and dairy and has fairly low protein requirements - about 50g compared to many bariatric plans encouraging 80-100g. (Of course he isn't vegan by any stretch and I've seen him recommend yogurt smoothies and small amounts of animal protein, etc. He even said in one video that he doesn't think that a fully plant-based diet is "necessary for the general population." So yeah, while we're claiming him he's not necessarily "ours," know what I mean? Just a good resource!) While Dr. Weiner's diet is "low carb" compared to our pre-op sugary diets, it's certainly not low carb in the bariatric sense. You can't eat many fruits and certainly not any beans and whole grains and still remain under 30-50g carbs. It's also low-fat. Difficult to be low-fat and low-carb at the same time! He also promotes eating in abundance instead of focusing on calories, a huge difference from most bariatric plans. You just need to eat your abundance from healthy plant foods (Obviously you still end up eating fewer calories because you're eating high-volume, low-calorie foods but it's the mindset that helps make a difference!) So on a spectrum with keto/Atkins on the left and veganism on the right I'd say he's definitely well across the center line to the right, while most bariatric plans are basically keto except with low-fat dairy and some wiggle room for beans. Sorry for the long post, Fluff - I am fully carbed again, having eaten an abundance of fruit, oats, and rice in the last couple of days that I've been free from my liquid diet. So I'm all peppy and ready to argue again!!! Heehee!

Yeah that's weird I can have pudding and yogurt and cottage cheese now or so they said. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Wow... I hope you start to feel better real soon. I have my protein shake for a morning snack around 10 - 10:30, it takes me a good 1/2 hour to drink. It is 64 grams of protein, then I have approximatley another 20 grams of protein, thru yogurt, cottage cheese etc.

Crystal light my hubby bought chicken noodle soup that I strained the broth had more flavor s/f/popcycles. I could not have yogurt or pudding or fudge pops. I did have s/f. The second week. I got to add protein shakes(only) then 4 days after that mush mush now I'm on soft food. I'm 3 weeks out.

You should be eating the amount recommended by surgeon or nutritionist. You don't want to feel full. Many of those foods are sliders. Be careful.I just thought my body would signal more. I don't know. Same goes with Protein shakes. No feeling of fullness. I have stuck mainly to eggs and cheese and protein shakes. Bc I know those hold more nutritional value and more protein than pudding or potatoes. He didn't give me a specific ounce per meal nor a calorie goal. He did give me protein goals and Fluid goals, obviously. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Your body won't send full signals until its too late. Protein shakes, yogurt, pudding are all foods that go quickly through your sleeve so you can usually eat more. My plan says 1-2 Oz's every 3 hours (eat over 20 mins or less). I don't know if that's the same as yours. That's only for food - not liquids. I would just be concerned of overeating and getting sick. You can really hurt yourself this early out. Congrats on your weight loss! Sent from my KFFOWI using the BariatricPal App

I am 8 days out, as well. Down 21 pounds. I feel hungry, lightheaded and sluggish, too. Yesterday I had about 1 Tbs. of pureed cottage cheese and for dinner I had 2 Tbs. of plain mashed potatoes. I also got in all my liquids, a Protein shake, Jello and yogurt. My biggest problem is night hunger. My stomach and head are waking me up in the middle of the night. Trying to eat or drink some kind of protein before bed to stave that off. Hang in there! We are traveling this journey right alongside of you! I have just showered and washed my hair. Resting before I dry my hair. Took out my last staple this morning. Kinda scary but I'm glad it is out even though I got very dizzy after I pulled it out. We are having heavy storms here today. Just trying to stay calm and follow the plan.

1. First question may be a bit silly and I know everyone has their own unique experience, but I'm wondering what to expect on the actual day of surgery. For some reason the surgery itself doesn't make me nervous because I know I have an excellent doctor, but being put to sleep makes me a little nervous. Also, I'm nervous that I'll wake up into excruciating pain.. Is this the case ? Either way I know eventually it will all be a minor detail but I'm just curious to see how others have reacted to surgery. For my surgery, I was wheeled into the operating room, had a few pleasantries with the staff, then bam woke up in the recovery room. No mask being put on my face, no slow fading out . . . I was just there chatting with people one second, then the next second woke up. When I woke up I did have pain in my shoulder (from the surgical gas) but I wouldn't call it excruciating. My team did an excellent job on pain control the whole time I was there. It wasn't a big deal. 2. My second question has to do with hair loss. Is there anything I can do from now to prevent my hair from falling out/ thinning. I know getting in my Protein is key, but is there anything else I can do? No, there isn"t anything you can do to prevent it. Don't waste your money on massive amounts of biotin or some sort of special shampoo. It will either happen or it won't. There are good ways you can cut and style your hair, as well as cosmetic tricks, to hide hair loss if you get a severe case of it. Usually the hair loss starts around month 3 and stops and the hair starts growing back somewhere around month 6. 3. My third question has to do with excess skin. Again I know each person is different and there are many factors to this. My question is did anyone find that toning exercises or any kind of body butters/lotions help at all? No. If there were some sort of magic trick to prevent excess skin, no one would need plastic surgery because word would spread and everyone would do it. The thing is, you already have the skin you have. You can't prevent it, it's already there. If having excess skin is going to bother you a lot, start saving your pennies for plastic surgery now. 4. My fourth and final question has to do with pregnancy after being sleeved. I don't plan on starting a family for another 4-5 years but I'm curious if the sleeve has affected anyone's pregnancy.. Did anyone find it hard to take in the proper nutrients ? Was it hard to bounce back from pregnancy? Did any complications that may not be obvious arise due to the sleeve? I haven't had personal experience, but my sister (a physician) says that pregnant women require an extra 300 calories per day to nourish the fetus, plus a prenatal vitamin. It's not hard to get 300 calories per day. Make a protein shake with whole milk and a tablespoon of peanut butter and you are just about there. Or eat a handful of nuts twice a day. Instead of having yogurt for breakfast, have scrambled eggs with cheese and avocado, plus eat a couple slices of dried mango for an after-dinner snack. Trust me, once most sleevers get a year or two out of surgery, they don't have trouble adding in 300 calories. They have trouble *not* adding in 300 calories when they don't need to! You'll be fine

So I am 2 weeks post op tomorrow. I am to be on a liquid diet for another week then I can move to puréed foods. I have done some "testing" based on what others have said. Do you think this is ok or should I just stay on my liquids for another week. I'm going crazy just having Soup broth, ice pops, yogurt and really thin oatmeal. I have tried some soft stuff out of the soup and I've had no issues. I even took a small bite of chicken and just really chewed it well and no issues. Just looking for some thoughts on moving to puréed stuff a week earlier than my dr tells me to. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Feeling much better, been eating baked chicken or yogurt and water. I’m gonna say it’s normal to have one of those days when u wanna cheat, This is new to me but I’ll make it through. I feel like I’m getting head hunger a lot so I usually just drink water or finish my work. Is it normal to no feel restriction tho, I usually stop myself so I don’t feel uncomfortable.

I was on liquid for 2 weeks also. There are reasons why they set these guideline. Your stomach's staple line needs to heal. You shouldn't eat anything on the liquid phase that doesn't turn to liquid when you eat it. (Creamed soups, broths, Jello, pudding, yogurts (no fruit), ice pops, Powerade zero, crystal light.. Of course sugar free and light) adding food at this point isn't a good choice. Especially at only 7 days out. For your protein drinks: Add favors, dress them up. Pb2 is great for chocolate, sugar free syrups is also a great addition to any flavor.

Are you on "clear liquids" or "full liquids"? If you are on clear, you can't have any of those. My doctor let me have yogurt starting day 6 post-op. But the others (cottage cheese, applesauce) weren't allowed until "mushies". Hang in there and STAY STRONG!! You don't want to risk it!

I made homemade stews and chili's. I also had the yogurts, tuna and canned chicken with some low fat cream cheese or mayo (heated). My fav was meatloaf and gravy !!!

Drinking Water...or hydrating--period, was very difficult for me; as it is for most. However, in the midst of my exercise routine, drinking water was much easier. Hopefully, you will find it easier to hydrate during your exercise as well. I personally tried to consume higher calorie foods on my exercise days. I needed the energy and sustainability to get through my rigorous activities. My biggest go-to was unsalted nuts or natural peanut/almond butter. At 6 weeks post-op, I know consumption is really difficult. At your stage, Greek yogurt embedded with fruits was my other go-to-food. The extra sugar gave me extra energy. One last tip for hydrating: ice. I love to go to my local Dairy Queen (I'm a Texas girl) and grab a cup of their fine, soft ice and munch on it. It goes down so much easier that drinking water. Keep it up!!!

I take Trader Joe's Chewable High Potency Multis (bought at Trader Joe's of course). I pick up whatever Vitamin D supplement is on sale at Kroger or CVS. The rest I get from Amazon - Wellesse liquid iron, Citracal Petites (for the first 4 weeks after surgery I used Wellesse liquid calcium instead), and Bariatric Advantage Chewable Probiotic. I buy the Equate brand of sugar free fiber supplement -- same fiber as in Benefiber but fewer calories and carbs, also cheaper -- and add it as needed to my protein shakes and yogurt. Wellesse also makes liquid multivitamins and B complex if you prefer liquid to chewable or gummy.