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Hi. I'm new to this but I am super excited to be taking this journey. Although I am excited I am also worried I will not know how to eat or worried I won't get enough Protein or vitamins!! Hopefully with all this support it will help!! I have never been skinny and right now I am at my heaviest of 314 lbs 6'0 tall. My goal is to lose around 120 pounds. Not sure if that is realistic or not. But I just want to feel healthy again and start working out and working on myself. I have spent so many years focused on other people in my life that right now is my time to shine!! I'm ready for a change!

Do you like Greek yogurt? That is a staple for me. I use it for at least one of my meals daily and it has lots of protein. I find eggs extremely filling. I couldn't eat them the first 6 months.

This forum hurts and helps at the same time! I am 2.5 weeks out - still on protein and soup and just read the post of someone 7 days out told to start scrambled eggs! Apparently each doctor has their own thing... There is nothing consistent except the surgery!

My surgeon wants me aiming for 64 oz. I haven't quite made it yet (just a few days post-op) but it's getting easier. Protein drinks, broth, etc. count for the water total, too.

I wasn't restricted on what type of liquids after banding but I guess your doc is different. Isopure makes a clear Protein drink and Ensure Clear is also a Protein Drink. That said, hang in there. I was on full liquids for six weeks post op. It sucked but I lost fifty pounds in that time. I started exercising and got my weight loss off to a good start. If you follow your team's advice, you will be in great shape once you start your fills. Once your band is adjusted properly everything gets easier. Don't give up. The light is right around the corner!

I'm not sure what you want. The rules are the same. Protein first, then veg, drink Water and exercise. You already know you need to stop eating unhealthy Snacks. There are no special trick or magical hacks. It's work each and every day for life. I don't know what follow up care is like at your center, mine offers f/u for 5 years out. It may help to contact them or at least find an in person support group.

How high is your BMI? Could you get a second opinion to see if other options are feasible?

My DS was the day before your surgery and I'm right there with you. Getting 40oz to 64oz of liquid is the most important part. Protein is second. My surgeon told me to forego protein if I'm not getting my liquids in. Like you, I'm jonesing for a cheeseburger, a slice of pizza with green pepper, literally almost anything I could chew to get something savory. Bed broth doesn't taste good to me, but chicken broth does. I don't know if I'm allowed to add seasoning to the broth so I'm keeping it plain until later next week. Jello satisfies the sweet tooth, but the savory part, I just haven't found a good source yet. Stay strong, we're all here to support each other! Sent from my Pixel 3 using BariatricPal mobile app

I had my surgery on Feb 26th, I am hungry. It is not in my head, it is truly a feeling. It seems that I am not satisfied even after drinking the Protein shakes that are suppose to fill you up. When is something going to kick in and I not feel the emptiness. This is not what I thought it would be. Another friend had the same surgery and she said, she wasn't hungry and could not eat. Well that isn't the case for me. What do I do now? Did I waste money. Whether it is insurance paying for this, I'm second guesting my decision. I never felt like this prior to the surgery. Is there anyone out there that feels my pain.

Jaynisa I know how you feel totally. I am 11 weeks out. But those first weeks were hard to transition. I was getting in so little calories I just ate what I could. I was not worried about the fat or carbs, but just to get something down that agreed and stayed. I track everything good and bad in my fitness pal. The reality is "it is what it is". I would rather have things go down smooth and acceptable than to freak out over fat and carbs. I do rolls like you too. I love seafood and chicken. I find Protein bars easy to snack on to get a chocolate taste and get the protein. Today is my daughters 16th birthday. I had the smallest slice of ice cream cake. But I did not wait long enough after my chicken bites for dinner and I didn't keep the cake down. Just do what you can. Remind yourself what the optimal is, and give yourself some slack for not being 100% every day. This is one of the most major changes I have ever made. I work at it every day. I don't fail any day though because I am trying every day with a positive attitude. You can do this, it gets better and I'm looking forward to feeling even better each day.

I want to hear from people who had the band removed and how they cope with gaining weight back despite diets and exercise. I do not have an option for any other bariatric surgeries unfortunately!

I'm three weeks out and Water is still disgusting to me, so if you find a solution please let me know. I also can't stand the taste of Protein shakes, so I'm with ya.. I I made pineapple Jello and ate it before it settled, I poured in the hot water, stirred it, added a cup of ice cubes, then spoon fed myself with that, I also ate the ice cubes as they melted. It got me going, might not be the answer for anyone else, but it helped me.

I have tried just about all flavors. I do both the powder and the liquid. I have been told NOT to drink the orange cream because it's nasty and that was from the staff. When drinking the powder I use 1 scoop of powder, add 1 spoon of greek yogurt, 1 spoon of powder Peanut Butter, 4 pieces of fruit, ice, sprinkle some ginger on it (for digestive), and 1 cup of almond milk. Blend and it's awesome. If you happen to do 2 scoops of Protein then I double the milk. I even take the GNC mega Vitamins for women in the powder form and I put a scoop of that in there too. I have a video that I created which goes step by step on how I do everything. The liquid I like to drink cold or almost in a slushy form! I drink those when I am on the go. They taste waaayyyy better than the whey powders and better than the Atkins drinks to me. I don't add (too) sugary fruits such as peaches and pineapples, etc. I use anything with a berry at the end because it gives it a hint of sweetness (which it really doesn't need). I also may add banana when I need that potassium. My favorite powder from the collection is Cinnamon Bun and Pina Colada. My favorite from the liquid is strawberry, chocolate and then Vanilla! Hopes this helps

I just had my surgery 4/9 and I'm feeling lousy. Trying my best to get my fluids in and starting on Protein shakes now. No desire at all for anything with flavor, it makes me nauseated. Please tell me this will get better. When will I feel "normal" again?

I use the Syntrax Nectar. My favorite is the Vanilla Bean. I put frozen fruit in it & sometimes I add a little yogurt. I also mix it with Silk milk. I can't stand it with water. Everyone's taste is different. I've tried stuff other people liked & I couldn't tolerate it. I also like the chocolate & strawberry Premier Protein shakes.

My story so far spans 6 years and includes 4 surgeries and a lot of ups and downs. In 2008, weighing in at 288 pounds on a 5'3'' frame, detesting seeing myself in wedding photos, and now having a gorgeous stepson to live for, I sought out weight loss surgery. Not to mention, my endocrinologist diagnosed me with PCOS and told me my only hope for having a baby was to lose weight. My employer is known to have a "Cadillac" benefits plan, so I had a hunch approval wouldn't be too difficult. I was correct. Getting approval only took a few months, and a minor number of hoops jumped through. I decided on the Lap-Band and was pretty excited going in to surgery. I wasn't too nervous, believe it or not! And even though back in 2008, the pre-op diet that my surgeon required was MUCH worse than what they do now (14 days of CLEAR liquids), I got through it ok. Surgery went pretty smooth- I remember falling in love with the SF Banana popsicles they gave me to eat right out of surgery - delicious!! After 2 weeks of chilling at home and lounging in the sun, I was back at work. I started getting fills soon after and started feeling the restriction. My memories that stand out - first time I got stuck was on a piece of egg and my husband had to stop alongside the road for me to slime/gag/vomit whatever you call that, ugh. The band had its good and bad. I remember getting stuck often. I remember wanting so badly to sample all of the foods at Thanksgiving dinner that I snuck away to do some yoga poses to get the food to slide through the band so that I could eat more - and was caught by my SIL who thought it was hilarious, as she downed a pumpkin roll. But a lot of the time, I paid attention to the rules, and didn't get stuck, worked out 5 days per week, and I lost weight - a lot of weight! I was down to a size 14 when I started having gallbladder issues. Getting extreme upper right stomach pain and nausea for no apparent reason, vomiting my guts up when there wasn't even anything in my guts to vomit up. That is when the band slipped for the first time. I knew it had slipped because even though I had a slight unfill, I could not get anything through the band and I was sliming/salivating constantly. I carried a can around one weekend so that I could spit my extra saliva out. Gross. By the time the dr finally decided to remove my gallbladder, the slip was so bad that I wasn't eating anything and was very dehydrated. He removed the GB, repaired the slip, and sent me on my merry way. Since I wasn't filled directly after surgery, I immediately gained back about 25 lbs. But I felt so good compared to before the surgery that I didn't care! After a couple of months of not caring, I realized I was starting to gain a little much, so I started getting fills again, pumped back up my exercise plan, and did ok at not getting stuck, not vomiting, etc. But I did still have one problem that I had from the very start. When I had the band, I could not burp. No matter how hard my husband tried to coach me, it didn't work. The gas got stuck in my esophagus and just gurgled around in there, making me (and him) miserable. I learned that if I just *barely* gagged myself with my fingers, the gas would be able to come up, and *most* of the time, I could keep from emptying the contents of my pouch. It sounds, and felt like bad Band behavior, but I was miserable and had to do something. Anyway, I started to lose weight again slowly, and was really enjoying life again. That was a pretty good year for me. That Christmas season was filled with parties, and I was able to enjoy them without the band being an issue. And on December 22nd, we found out the greatest news - we were pregnant! We had been trying for nearly a year and given it up to just enjoy life, and surprise! It was wonderful news! So, I went to my surgeon and he did a complete unfill. I had a GREAT pregnancy. I felt better during pregnancy than I have EVER felt in my life. I felt so full of positive energy. I was literally that glowing pregnant woman walking around on cloud 9! I focused on eating a lot of healthy food, taking my vitamins, drinking tons of water, continued exercising. I was a great PG mommy! (I did crave spicy foods and the baby insisted on a bowl of Graeter's black raspberry chip ice cream every night I gained weight, quite a bit, but I was so happy, I was ok with it. I had a great big round baby belly and didn't care that my arm fat was back I got up to about 248 at the time of delivery. My delivery was great. Near perfect, in fact. I made it to 8 cm before I got an epidural and delivered within 12 hours. Post delivery, they moved me to the recovery room, and that is when the disaster started. I nodded off due to extreme tiredness, and woke up aspirating my spit. Every time I nodded off while I was in the hospital, I woke up aspirating saliva. I am convinced, CONVINCED, that my band slipped during delivery due to being completely unfilled and all of the pushing. The next year was a mix of joy and misery. I couldn't eat food most of the time - well I take that back. Some weeks I could eat soups, soft foods, other weeks, I had to stick to protein shakes and milk shakes. I nursed my baby that entire year on that diet. Every night when I lay down to sleep, if there was ANYTHING in my pouch, even a little water, it would immediately reflux the second I dropped off to sleep and I would aspirate it. I got a couple of respiratory infections due to aspirating, and had to use an inhaler sometimes. I found out that drinking a milkshake at the right time of evening would cause everything in my pouch to slide through and I wouldn't take even a sip after that before I went to bed. Still nursing the baby, I did take a 2 day break (pump and dump) to have an Upper endoscopy, where a GI doctor (not my surgeon) said the band looked fine, and used a balloon to stretch the esophagus a little. This didn't really help. Not wanting to affect my nursing relationship with my very beautiful and healthy son, I continued my suffering. I suffered like this through his 13th month, when he started to drink from a cup and lost interest in nursing. After we stopped nursing, it seemed like the band got even worse. I was down to about 170 lbs. now after a year of nursing and barely eating. And now even the tricks I used for that year weren't working anymore! So back to the surgeon I went and finally he decided to remove the band. It was removed on 11/30/2012 and I weighed in at nearly 160 lbs that morning at the hospital. My insurance would not approve me for an immediate conversion, and my surgeon didn't recommend it. He wanted me to give my body a few months to recover from the malnutrition, trauma, and to see if the reflux problem would resolve. It did, immediately. I did well the first 6 months. I became an exercise nut, doing the 30 day challenge, P90X, etc, and eating a whole foods diet. I spent all day Sunday in the kitchen preparing healthy and wholesome meals for me and my family. I only gained about 20 lbs those first 6 months. Then disaster struck. I went on vacation, forgot my thyroid meds for a few days, came home with the flu, and triggered a nasty depression. A few months later, I had totally given up and was gaining weight like crazy. Within the year, I've gained another 80 lbs. Backing up a little, I tried, just a few months after the band was removed, to get approved for the Gastric Sleeve. My insurance wouldn't approve me this time because my BMI wasn't high enough. Come back when you are on our BMI chart, they said. HAH! Please gain weight and become unhealthy again, then we will help you. SO, anyway, I gave up on that for a while, and started trying again this past January. They denied me a couple of time because they tried to say the Band didn't work, so they wouldn't approve a second surgery. Uh, YES it DID! My surgeon's PA was on the war path when she heard that! A 130 lb weight loss does not indicate failure, she said! So, needless to say, she got me approved. But I shelved the approval due to some personal issues with my mom's situation. And finally decided to go for it, was Sleeved on 5/30/2014, despite my husband's protests (worried about complications/permanence) and looking forward to adding more to my story! So far, the sleeve seems alright. I am definitely not hungry, but a little unsure as to how I'm going to get my protein in with this much restriction. Gonna time my time and follow doctor's orders!

Hi all, well tomorrow is my big day and I feel mentally and emotionally ready. Twelve days ago I began my pre-op eating which we worked out to mean NO SUGAR, two meals a day of a 40 gram sugar free Protein shake, 8-12 oz of full sodium, no fat broth plus a small meal of 3-4 oz. protein (I had chicken once and fish the other days) with vegetables. I drank lots and lots of Water and have lost as of this morn 14.5 lbs. I also had to go cold turkey off my Hormone Replacement Therapy which hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. Today's diet will be complete clear liquids/broths as my food intake plus lots of water. This morning for the first time in a long time I was motivated to walk at the crack of sunlight. I accomplished a steady, good pace with only a tinge of back ache, no shin splints (YAY) and I really enjoyed it. I will keep busy today spending time with a visiting friend here on Island so will put in some beach/pool/sea time on the Caribbean Sea (I live on Grand Cayman Island). I feel blessed, grateful, with complete faith in my surgeon and ready for the next chapter of good health and joy.

I wasn't given a list of approved foods. I just stay away from sugar and start. There's 6 grams of fat in chili, and 17g of protein. I get a small chili from Wendy's and blend it.

Wow Jamie it's so funny you said that because my mom was talking about getting a knee replacement. But thank you for the open arms. I'm deff nervous about the whole ordeal. I thought it was going to be a 6 month process so I was mentally prepared and the doctor says its only 2 months ! I was a bit taken back by that. I'm going to see a second surgeon on Monday. I want to weight all my options before I choose which doctor I want to go with

@@Thenewnic I second the premier protein shakes!! As always!

Hi! My name is Loree Drawbaugh and I had my sleeves bypass surgery on April 24, 2014, a year ago! I have lost total 70 pounds plus. After three months, I found out that I got pregnant and was pretty nervous because my husband and I did try before I went on for surgery and it's a surprised! I went through the whole process and did not GAIN any pounds until I gave birth on March 20 ,2015 to a beautiful daughter Sophie Ann as we have two boys - AJ 6 years old and Jakie 4 years old. So, now I'm working on getting back on the track to lose more weight but for some reasons, I'm stuck and starting to go into old habits. Right before weight loss surgery, I was supposed to have surgery on April 22nd however I started to have high blood pressure so I never had them before (It runs in the family) so I started taking meds and it did help to control them after the surgery and during pregnant but after birth, my high blood pressure has return so I am seeing doctor to figure out why it is so high and I'm looking into food I eat, I admit as I am not drinking enough Water or Protein food (seems I'm not always hungry but choose poor food as I am looking after three children so anyway I was at 287 down to 257 and now I'm at 209 pounds and feel stuck as I want really want to hit 100 pounds off - my goals is to weigh at 145, one day if I ever can! I'd like to ask people to share their experieneces if they get stuck and finally lose more weight, I'm nervous what If I start to gain and would not look at the scale until my next appt to meet with doctor for WLS...I have met with nutrionist - she is concerned about my high blood pressure as I'm seeing the doctor at least twice a month to see how I am doing and adjust on meds pretty frustarted as I'm turning 41 and want to have my life to be happy. I do feel energy but why do I pick poor food planning? Right now, my daughter is 9 weeks old and starting to sleep through the night (sometimes I feel I need to sleep more to get enough energy and drinks at least 2-3 cups coffee a day and remind myself to drink more water and eat less. I have tried protien shakes, they give me stomache so I stopped doing that perhaps I should go back and use it once a day and eat just protein but sometimes I crave into carb, I'd love to see people who can post what food do you eat....sometimes we do go out to eat and I cannot eat whole meals so I split in half with my hubby and save some left over to bring home if they are good. Enough of my story life...I am excited to find this group to learn more about you guys and see how it goes.

I was told the reason to avoid those carbs is because they expand/get gummy in the stomach and can be difficult to pass through the band or get stuck. I've experienced this. Like you, I focus on protein & veggies. I'm quite satisfied with that. I do have a sweet tooth though. :/. Everything is okay in moderation. The band is the best thing I've ever done for myself. I'll do whatever ever it takes to be successful, feel great & look great.

Edamame Black Olives & Cheddar cheese Mini Babybel Cheese Yogurt Quest Protein Bar Ham/Swiss and Avocado roll up Cutie or Halo Green Grapes Sugar Snap Peas dipped in Ranch vanilla or Butter Toffee Almonds Pistachios These are all my favorites

So I am 5 days post op and worried to death bc I am not getting my ozs in for daily intake and protein. I feel full ALL the time. Should I stop or keep trying to get it in.

What do the instructions from your surgeon/NUT say? Every surgeon has a specific post-op program. I was on Clear liquids week one and full liquids week two with a goal of 100 grams Protein and 64 oz Water per day.