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If you switch out the grapes with berries and switch the yogurt to a sugar-free yogurt (or maybe greek yogurt that you mix up yourself with stevia or Splenda), it could make a pretty big difference Edited to add: You could probably find a lower-carb protein bar and protein shake too ...

1) Measure your portions RELIGIOUSLY(measure by volume, not weight), do not try to eyeball it early out. Stick with the recommended amount, no more regardless if you feel full or not. Eating until we're full got us fat in the first place. 2) Follow the post-op dietary guideline, and tweak it when necessary to do what works with your body. 3) Drink your fluids, eat your Protein, take your Vitamins 4) Move more when you can 5) Common sense will be your best friend through this journey The sleeve works. The lack of hunger (or decreased hunger that many experience) is fabulous, and that is what I contribute to a lot of my success and continued success in maintenance. I rarely exercised, and hate it. I'm not one of the workout, dopamine junky, I don't get that feel good feeling. It is nothing more than a chore to me, just like scrubbing a toilet in my mind. I know I need it, but I don't do it. You'll love the sleeve compared to the band.

Congrats mrsglomartin!! You're doing amazing I'm so happy to hear how much your life has changed for the better ! Keep up the good work ???? I started at 274 pounds and right now I'm 200 pounds. I've been stalled for a few weeks this always happens and the stalls are getting even longer. I take my protein everyday and I drink lots of water I also go running.. I'm just a slow loser I guess lol What multivitamin do you use ? Right now I'm taking prenatal vitamins and I'm not sure if that is a great idea

I'm doing good but I'm having great difficulty with the Protein. Every time I try to mix it with anything it causes instant nausea and stomach cramps. I'm praying that when I enter the next stage of puréed foods I'll be better able to disguise the taste of the protein. I discussed this with my doc and he's not too worried about me not getting the protein while it's crucial to my successful weight loss, he wants me to focus on getting in my supplements and staying hydrated. I tried the muscle milk for the first time today. It made me feel a little nauseous but as I'm sipping on it slowly it's better than anything else I've tried thus far. All the best to you!!! Hi April21Sister! Just hang in there, I too was getting fed up with liquids and purée, I just started putting in more flavor in my food, I even had mushy Cereal yesterday. I'm feeling ok except today and yesterday I was so tired and feeling chills, I slept extra hours, also having a little pain on my left side near the stitches don know what that could be. I'm seeing my doc and nutritionist on 21st, hope he can answer. Very confused on how much to eat, I guess we are afraid of eating to much and worried about any complications, we should relax I guess and learn to understand our bodies more...lots of learning ahead. I'm going to try the Premier Protein from costco. Stay strong and keep up the progress...!

Hi BriWLS, I'm doing great???? I've lost 100 lbs and I'm walking five miles every day. I just went clothes shopping and I'm down from a size 24 to a 14 or 12 depending on the cut. It's an awesome feeling!! I still can only eat 3 oz of food at a time but I make sure to get my protein in every morning and I drink plenty of water and hot or iced tea. I use blue guava nectar to sweeten everything as I can't tolerate anything sweet since the surgery. Hope you are doing well too.

Hi all I have been approved for the lap band surgery. Just waiting for the date. I am wondering how you to get 60 grams of Protein a day after surgery. It seems it will be hard.

Yes, this 70's Chicago song has been playing in my head since Friday (2 days Post Op). I am now 5 days post op and feel sooooo much better! Here's how my day has gone so far: Today I woke up at 6:30 am feeling a little rough (tired and sore) as I have every morning, but I got up, took my Tylenol (I haven't had any narcotic pain relief since Friday- I don't like it!), and had a 4 oz cup of decaf tea. Breakfast was 1/3 cup SF Jello, got down another 6 oz of well diluted Sobe Life Water. Sipped my Protein shake (about 4 oz) on my way to Trader Joe's for yogurt and cottage cheese, which I can add in on Wednesday! Yippee!! lunch was a 1/2 cup of Miso Ginger broth (also from Trader Joe's), delish!! I'm now working on sipping some water and I am about ready for a nap. I'll be taking a walk this evening after dinner. You know, I think I can do this! It does get easier! You all were SO RIGHT! Hope everyone else out there in Pre-Op, Recovery Land, or beyond, is having a great day, too!

According to several in another group I am in make sure your getting your protein...all of it... many of those who were having stalls stepped up their protein and saw changes quickly.

I have heard that band is the first step in bypass for people over a certain weight. With that aside I'm not sure you have confidence in this surgeon . I interviewed 2 surgeons before making my decision. You will be going to the doctor for the rest of your life. And if you have red flags now they are there for a reason. Take a step back and look at the options best for you.

Maybe, as it appears to be a trend that people who transition from full liquids to pureed and from pureed to real food get smacked in the chest with GERD.. some advice and recipe ideas that are a little easier on the gastric function/intestinal motility whilst having some flavour and hit the protein requirements? That would be very cool indeed!

I think you are doing awesome! We are all different and we are going to lose at different paces. Celebrate losing 80+ pounds and keeping it off! I don't think you should replace meals with shakes. Shakes just go right through your sleeve. It's better to eat real protein and get restriction. Congrats on doing so great! I am a December sleever too! ; )

Hi All, So I have been hearing both on VST and on TV news segments that people are loosing over 100lbs in 6 months after surgery. I am concern that I have not been losing as well as I could. Let me say that it will be a year December 10th I have lost 80+ pounds, which is great and it shows but I am thinking that I need to go back and replace some meals with protein shakes and cut back on some things. What is your take? Any recommendations? Thanks! we11ro

6 weeks after surgery I started my life diet phase. I am a huge sweet tooth but too much sugar and dumping time. I hate sugar free stuff, I would rather have dumping then what those protein sugars do to me, the stuff generally in sugar free candy and chocolate. So the indulgence for me now is died mango, I mean proper dried mango not candied mango which is gross. The gross stuff says dried mango but is the consistency of jub lollies.

You won't typically feel any restriction or fee "full" while you are on liquids. You should be drinking as much as you can at this point. Try to get plenty of protein, if you can get 100g or more great. The only exception to this is if protein consumption interferes with hydration. You should be getting at least 64oz/day. I like to use my body weight as a guide for liquid consumption. Example: I currently weigh 217lbs. So I divide 217 in half = 108.5. So my target today is 108oz.

WOWIE WOW WOW WOW. What a great birthday present to yourself. Hope all went well and you got to celebrate with some water and protein shakes instead of cake. Let us know how you r doing.

For protein powder drinks, you can get Pure Protein 100% Whey for $17.00 for a large, large jug at Walmart. One scoop with 1 cup skim milk, 1 splenda and a handful of ice blended in your blender make a nice, chocolately shake that tastes great at about half the price of the isopure. However, I too really enjoy the Isopure clear protein drinks in the bottle, especially grape. I drink at least 1/2 a 20 oz bottle daily to boost my protein intake (I am just 16 days out from surgery). They are expensive but you can shop around.

What kind of diet did your Dr. put you on for pre-op? Mine has had me on a 700 calorie high protein low carb for 2 weeks. Hope I do indeed have the surgery done next Thursday as planned (June 8th). Waiting to hear from my insurance company at this point. Will be out of town until next Tuesday so will have to check back with the Drs. office at the beginning of next week. It would be nice to know how to plan.

Could someone please give me an idea of how much they ate (drank) at each meal post op on the liquid phase. I know what to have but not sure of the amounts. I dont realyy feel like I have any restriction but everything pretty much hurts going down. I have half a protein shake for breakfast which I add ice to and blend which fluffs up to 1 cup. I can get this down in about 10 minutes - is this too much too fast?

As long as you are prepared with protein drinks, pre-planning for your food choices and the knowledge that drinking might be out of the question. (You can be the designated photographer.) Have fun!

My doctor told me that it's very common for bands to be tighter in the morning. He said after you have been laying down for extended periods of time your stomach will swell-which causes tightness in the morning. Once you've been up and moving around, then the swelling goes down. I feel tightness on the rare occasion that I can take a nap. I'm always tighter after laying down and the longer I lay down, the tighter I seem to be. I can't/don't really eat any solids until after 2pm. Anyway, doctor said it's very common in banding. I like it because it forces me to have a Protein shake in the AM and gets my day started off on the right foot!

If you are going to be on these meds long term go get a slight unfil. You need to be able to eat 3 oz of solid protein if you can't you are too tight. Having a too tight band can lead to the band slipping or eroding which are major complicatons and can lead to having the band removed.

I joined planet fitness on the same day as my two week follow up appointment when my doctor cleared me. I worked out for about an hour and once I was done with some heavy cardio and weight lifting, I had to grab on to my best friend because I thought I was going to fall over. Turns out, I wasn't ready for such intensity and was more eager than my body could reasonably handle while having been on a liquid diet for a month. Plus, I could barely drink water at that point, so I wasn't getting in my fluids every day and I know I wasn't getting in my protein. The next day, I returned and made sure I had my protein that day before working out. I did the same routine and still was feeling exhausted afterward. My friend told me I had to take it easier, so I decided it would be best to wait until I was eating actual food before I returned to Planet Fitness. I've been going this week now that I am off my short term restrictions and I've not had any issues. I feel much better now and can drink more water at once than just a sip or two, so that is huge for me. I say to trust your body and work your way up.

My dr.'s off ice gave me 4: www.vistavitamins.com www.bbvitamins.com www.vitalady.com www.bariatricadvantage.com I get mine from www.dpsnutrition.com on the left side go down the IDS then look for IDS New Whey Liquid Protein! I love the Blue Raspberry (only 25 g. protein and both the Orange and Grape 42 g protein. I have usually add them to a bottle of propel water but have just drank them by themselves. __________________

I have the same surgery date! We only do a 10 day liquid diet (we are limited to 1 protein shake a day for the first 5 days and clear liquids after that), but I am on day 6. I think it has everything to do with how much water you were retaining before you began and how much water you are drinking to flush out the bloating. If you weren't retaining much, you don't lose as much. If you don't drink lots of water, you aren't getting rid of it. I was super bloated and hormonal when I began, so I had an initial drop. However, I got dehydrated, so the scale stopped moving. I pushed a ton of water yesterday and lost 6 pounds overnight. I can already tell that water will be my big challenge after surgery!

Ok Mandy..I have been on the liquid protein pre op diet for almost three weeks now. I have cheated and totally regretted it. My stomach would feel soo engourged and after being on the liquid diet for as long as I have been I feel that I ruined my previous work. I was 335 pounds three years ago when I was diagnosed with PCOS. I had gained 80 pounds in a year with no change in my diet. My hair was thinning and my skin was getting darker and my menses were totally out of control. I actually had a period that lasted for TEN (yes you read that right 10) weeks. Talk about feeling like crap during your one week periods try ten weeks straight. I was starting to think that I was going to menstrate myself to death. Then I got scared and started walking 30 min EVERY day!! I lost 35 pounds in 4 months and my stomach muscles started taking on a shape other than SAG. my periods have since been pretty much normal again. but now I need to get the rest of it off. I have been flip floping ack and forth from 310 to 300 since april. I started my liquid protein diet july 5. I love my shakes they are sooo awesome. I use Pro Rated Alpine Vanilla. I got it at Costco for $20 for a 6 # tub. I mixed it with 2% milk at first and I loved it. then I thought to incorporate more protein in it (the powder had 22 grams per scoop) I started using 8th Contintnet Light Soy milkVanilla flavor..its adds 7 more grams of protien to my shakes. they taste like a treat. I have them for my three meals and drink drink drink drink all day long of my FLAVOR SPLASH AQUAFINA water..sooo freaking good tasting I had to call them to make sure there really was no cal no carb no sugar. They said no none. I also enjoy the crystal light water pack on the go mixes. they taste good too. then I have sugar free fat free jello. it satisfies my urge to chew. I live in northern nevada where we have had over a week straight of temps over 100 and there had been a run on the sugar free popcicles here too. I know that there are more options out there that i am not aware of but, I love ones i have been told of and discovered. Keep your chin up and know that the more you lose before surgery the less you have to loose after. I think of it as a farewell to dieting forever..This sugery is teaching me to eat right for the rest of my life and there will be nore more diets. I found a quote that inspires me and i will share it with you.. "It's never too late to be what you might have been." I have small quotes like that all over my house to help me keep my chin up. I put my fat picture on my freezer door as to see it everytime i open the doors to my fridge. I dont like the person i see in it and think everytime i choose not to open that door and binge of how much sooner i will be saying good riddance to the old unhealthy me and hello to the new me. Well I am off to my pre op appt for blood work etc. talk to you soon and i hope that something i shared with you will help. if notheing more than to diatract you from your humger, Best of luck to you