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Some background first..... I had my first fill last Thursday. I was on liquids for 2 days -- did good on that -- and then gingerly started to eat normal. Well, as close to normal as you can. :rolleyes Today I made me a yogurt smoothie for Breakfast and thought I would make me a small ham sandwich for lunch with some salad. A lunch I have had in the last couple of weeks with no problems. So I took a small bite of the sandwich -- bread and all -- and oh boy! :help: It hurt so bad!!!! I even chewed it for a long time.:guess I sat there for a bit, trying to figure out where I went wrong. I drank all my Water first, it was a small sandwich, good protien in the ham......ah ha! It had to be the bread. So after the horrible feeling went away, I tried just a small piece of the ham, no bread (hey! I was still hungry! ) and everything went down ok. So I finished my ham slice -- still ok but I made sure I chewed, chewed, chewed! Slowly at about half of my small salad -- still everything ok, but I was so full!:speechles But at least I didn't feel like someone was running a bottle brush up and down my esophagus and wanting to throw up. So it had to be the bread. I guess it's true that things really change after your first fill. I haven't had any problems with any food since surgery, but now......I really have to watch what I eat.

Mine is actually more full than it was pre-op. I have a small kitchen with very little pantry space and it is overflowing. Pre-op, I always had milk in my refrigerator. I ate a lot of Cereal and other carbs. Now, in addition to Protein shakes and supplements, I have lots of condiments, spices, herbs, specialty/gourmet food (jars of pickles, olives, peppers, salsas, marinades, etc.). Pre-op, I bought pop by the 2 liter bottle. Now, I have enough tea, crystal light, etc. to fill a cabinet. I did eat a lot of tuna pre-op, but now I tend to buy tuna packets by the case. I also buy mr cheese os by the case. My refrigerator is full of yogurt, cottage cheese, other cheeses, eggs, fresh vegetables, fruit (right now I have fresh raspberries!), and opened bottles of condiments and specialty food (see my pantry).

I refuse to eat anything I don't like. I eat full fat cottage cheese, cheese, sour cream, butter, and salad dressing, if I'm going to have it. I don't eat all of those things all the time, and when I do, it's a small, measured amount. I work it into my calories for the day. I rarely drink milk, but if I do, it's whole milk. I don't eat much bread, rice, or Pasta, but I do on occasion. I also take advantage of some "diet" foods like Quest bars. One fat free thing I do eat is Fage 0 fat greek yogurt - because I like it.

How far post-op? First phases: Yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, protein shakes (for me, it was premier protein) Later phases: fish shrimp (shrimp is so good - easy to defrost and you can easily tailor the amount) sargento balanced breaks nut/cheese snack packs string cheese canned veg Tuna frozen fruit Parm chips (sometimes they have single serving bags, sometimes they just have a big bag Veggie burgers

I know i know, they all said its not possible to do that, but I feel like maybe I did. July 21 will be 6 months from my surgery and coincidentally, my birthday! - Maybe when I went from working out at night to working out in the morning before work (up around 330/4am, workout 415-515am, home by 6am), my system went out of whack? its like after work and after a sensible protein packed dinner of mainly chicken breast or something prepared healthily, i still feel like I can eat and eat and eat. I have a protein shake with spinach for breakfast, my millions vitamins, water, decaf coffee, then a great lunch of half cup of chicken breast or a protein shake with more spinach and then dinner at home. I try to stay on my water and an 11am and 3pm snack of string cheese or peanut butter or a hardboiled egg white. Has anyone else felt like they could just keep eating? The last couple nights I ate a half container of reduced fat jif! I never even ate pb before surgery. Maybe im craving sweets? Is that im not drinking enough water? I add sugar free packets to flavor my water b/c i dont like mio’s aftertaste and dont always want a sweet powerade zero. I was having greek yogurts but stopped because i was getting burned out on dairy. Just wondering if anyone else feels this way about their pouch. Maybe its all in my head! Im 25 lbs from my goal weight!

Hello! I thought I’d drop in and share a waffle recipe that I really like. 1/4 cup oats (I use quick oats, but rolled work as well) 1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt 1/2 small banana 1 large egg 1 scoop vanilla protein powder 1/4 tsp baking powder splash of vanilla blend all the ingredients together until smooth, then you can make it in a waffle iron or make pancakes with it. This does make about 3 waffles, so you can scale down the recipe or save some for later ☺️ You can also omit the yogurt, I’ve made it without the yogurt plenty of times. You can also substitute the banana with applesauce or pumpkin purée.

To be honest, I can eat anything if I really take my time, chew well and take small bites. I have problems with scrambled eggs for some reason and of course bread and Pasta can cause a problem. But when I really need my spagetti fix... if I eat slow enough and really take my time I don't have a problem. I can even throw in garlic bread. However... it just takes one bite too big or one bite to many and it's all over. And because of the calorie content I try to stay away from it for the most part. I have not found a meat that I have problems with. I know a lot fo people have trouble with chicken. And on any given day... even yogurt can cause a problem! CrAzY!

I am 3 weeks out on pureed and blenderized and am traveling for work this weekend. Hotel rooms and hosting clients at a football game. I know I can do the yogurt, cream of wheat for bfast, and soup for the other meals as I am sure not going to ask a restaurant to puree my meat for me, and I am going to bring some of my optifast to help out especially for the football game in a catered suite. My instructions say thinned mashed potatoes, pasta.........so I can probably get away with a small portion of pasta, well chewed if I end up in a restaurant setting. Have been doing so great with eating my chicken protein this week, I suppose if I could find a rotissere chicken well cut up and chewed I could possibly get by on that too. Any other suggestions would be great.

Hi there! Now, I don't make "gourmet" food or anything like that--I basically eat what "normal" people eat minus the fat, sodium, tons of carbs, and in smaller portions. No rocket science needed--I promise! If I can do this, you can do this! :girl_hug: The first thing I do is eat out of plastic containers that hold only a cup of food at the most to control portion sizes or I use a dessert sized plate rather than a dinner plate. It's a psychological thing! I usually aim for 1/2 cup of Protein at each meal then add in veggies, etc. Some people can eat more than a cup of food at a sitting which is fine--everyone is different. As long as you're still losing, it's all good! I eat three "meals" a day and I try my best not to eat at all after 6 PM. I don't snack between meals. Instead, I drink Water in various forms and strive to get in 64 ounces a day to flush out fat, keep from retaining too much water, and to stay hydrated. I don't really like plain water, so I got a PUR water filter and flavoring cartridge that I attached to my faucet. I either make flavored water by the glass or keep a pitcher in the fridge to fill up my water bottle. For dairy foods, I'll usually eat the low-carb 4 oz. yogurts although I find that yogurt does not do a very good job filling me up! I do still make Protein shakes with store brand skim lactaid milk (I'm still working on my bottomless container of Champion Nutrition whey Protein powder from a year ago)! I usually make it with about 8 ounces of liquid, 1 scoop of powder, and enough crushed ice to raise the volume to 10 ounces. I buy fat free cottage cheese and eat 1/2 cup with different things mixed in. I might add a teaspoon of sugar free strawberry jam (10 whole calories!) or a tablespoon of yogurt just to add some flavor. My doctor advised me not to add fruit like applesauce to it to avoid eating too many carbs. I eat string cheese sometimes with about 4 whole wheat crackers. I tried the lowfat version once, but wasn't too crazy about it. I also eat Egg Beaters for Breakfast often. Some stores sell flavored Egg Beaters--Southwest/Garden Vegetables, etc. Those are pretty good. I usually buy the plain kind and add something to it (chopped scallions, salsa, a sprinkle of cheese, chopped onions, peppers, and tomatoes, etc.). You can also play with spices as well. I eat refried Beans pretty often. I take a 1/2 cup of fat-free refried beans and combine it with a tablespoon or so of different types of salsa just to make it more interesting (peach salsa, pineapple salsa, etc.). Sometimes I add a teaspoon of fat free sour cream or a little sprinkle of shredded cheese on top (emphasis on little sprinkle--cheese can have a lot of fat). I also eat canned salmon a lot. I'll take a 1/2 cup of canned salmon and stir in different things (chopped scallions, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, dill, etc.). If you buy a couple of plum tomatoes instead of the big ones, that makes enough to mix in without having a lot of tomato left over to spoil. I add to that fat free mayonnaise or a fat free dressing that goes well with salmon. I do the same with canned tuna. I always rinse tuna (packed in water, not oil) in a collander to wash off the salt, too. That's an old habit I picked up from my dad's diet plan after he had a heart attack years ago. I also season salmon steaks with lemon juice and pepper and broil or bake it and then serve it with non-starchy veggies. I enjoy other types of fish as well (bake tilapia topped with salsa or canned chipotle peppers with adobe sauce which is very spicy, bake any white fish with a can of chopped tomatoes over it, etc.). All of these fish ideas can be split into smaller serving sizes and frozen. I make stir-fry often with chicken or shrimp and frozen stir-fry veggies. It's very quick and easy, and you can freeze the leftovers in small portions for another time. I find it's too salty if I use regular soy sauce, so I usually buy the low sodium kind. I make a basic soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and cornstarch sauce found in most cookbooks. I usually cook rice for my son, but I don't usually eat any because I eat the meat and veggies first in my little plastic container and I get filled up. For chicken, I have the best luck if I use chicken broth to cook it. Dry chicken and I don't get along well! Blech! Sometimes I'll cook a whole package of boneless chicken breast in my pressure cooker with 1 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth or a can of diced or stewed tomatoes to keep the meat moist. Once the meat cools, I'll chop it up and freeze it in 4 oz. serving sizes. I'll mix the cold or hot cubed chicken with all kinds of things. For warm meals, I'll heat the chicken up with some salsa, chopped tomatoes, or frozen non-starchy veggies. I'll add the cold chicken to salads, add fat free mayonnaise and scallions to make cold chicken salad, or grind it up with FF mayo and eat it on a few whole-wheat crackers. I use turkey the same way. I haven't quite mastered making pork easy to eat yet. I'm still working on it. I can't eat shake 'n Bake pork chops anymore. Again, if it's too dry, I gag on it! :puke:I do have beef on occasion, but I make an effort to eat fish, chicken, and dairy more often. I do purchase frozed meals sometimes (Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, etc.). I try to buy the ones that have just meat and veggies like steak tips and broccoli or turkey and veggies. If it's too much, I'll save the rest for another meal. If I buy a salad, I find that it lasts me for a good 2-3 meals. I dip my lettuce in the dressing as I eat rather than pouring the dressing all over the salad. It stays crisp a bit longer that way. You'll notice that I didn't mention the words bread or potato. I do eat some of these, but sparingly. I'll have a toast with Peanut Butter on occasion for breakfast. I can say now that I no longer eat doughy foods like doughnuts or cinnamon rolls. I avoid processed carbs as much as I can (chips, Snacks in the cookie/cracker aisle, etc.). I don't know if any of this babbling helps at all, but at least there's a few ideas in there that might appeal to you! Part of learning to live with the band is changing your thinking--the hardest part of this journey is overcoming what your brain is telling you from years and years of bad habits. If you make the food taste good and look good, you won't miss junk food at all. I feel like I'm a successful bandster not because I lost 100 lbs. in a year (which I most definitely haven't), but because I'm focusing on the good things I can eat and not bemoaning all of the foods I really shouldn't be eating in the first place. I'm choosing to lose weight at a slower pace than some folks--I'm not in a race with anyone but myself. I'm trying to make good choices to be healthy in order to change my lifestyle. I want to make lasting changes, not fall victim to the "fad diet" quick fix mentality if that makes sense. I didn't spend money to get banded and go back on the cabbage Soup diet, if you know what I mean! My band is just a tool to help me curb my appetite--the behavior modification and exercise is all up to me! Good luck!!!!

Breakfast coffe, wholewheat English muffin,2 tablespoons peanut butter lunch 1 cup Greek yogurt,berries, snack fudgcycle, supper 2 two ounce portobello mushroom veggie burgers, 1/2 a sweet potato, 1/2 cup salad. 1/4 cup good thins spinach parmesan crackers 5 calorie orange jello.

I do too!! I buy alot of there name stuff since i have been sleeved I read every label and really just stick to less is more. They have an awesome nonfat greek yogurt 12 grams of protein and their own grilled chicken ingredients are chicken breast salt and olive oil thats it no preservatives. 100 calories for 3oz 21 protein cant beat it. Try them out next time its healthy and easy . Im always on the run so its convenient . Im gonna look up Maries Gone Crackers right now. lol

I haven't seen my doctor in a really long time. I know that is not responsible of me at all but to be perfectly honest I feel as long as I don't get another fill at least I don't have to face another possible failure. That probably sounds completely absurd but it's just my mindset right now. I want SO BADLY for this to work for me the way it has worked for so many others and as long as I don't get a fill I don't have to say "Well that didn't work either." Honestly as little as I eat I should be a heck of a lot smaller than I am so I completely don't get it. Most days I eat a protein bar or greek yogurt with granola for breakfast, usually can't get a whole lean cuisine down for lunch, and then dinner is whatever the rest of the family is eating and I STILL CANNOT LOSE WEIGHT. I will take responsibility and say that I don't exercise as often as I need to but I do exercise and I should be losing more weight that I am!!!!!!!! I'm not gaining ridiculous amounts of weight but I do fluctuate 5lbs. Unfortuantely its that back and forth that is discouraging me. I will exercise 6 days a week for a month and lose a few pounds and then the second I go down to 3 or 4 days a week the weight comes back on. I am trying to break out of this funk but it has been hard to say the least.

Okay so I just found something that may help me and others in the purée stage with getting fiber. Oikos yogurt has 3g per serving. I don’t love Greek yogurt but I checked mine and it has none (my husband had the Greek stuff and he pointed it out) so I added a packet of Splenda and it’s isn’t super horrible that way. Tastes better than milk of magnesia. I read that we should try to get 5G per 1000 calories so I am gonna try to get one of those in a day and hopefully that will help.

I also had really intense constipation for the first month after the sleeve. I took Benefiber and stool softeners and drank 90 oz of water a day, but I still had long bouts of painful constipation (5 days or more). At my one month check-in with the nutritionist, she told me it was fine to use Milk of Magnesia every other day prophylactically until I started getting more plant fiber in my diet. She also told me to add chia seeds to my Greek yogurt. This worked for that second month and, now 2.5 months out, I am able to eat more veggies and not taking the Milk of Magnesia anymore and am totally regular lol. TL;DR In my experience, getting enough fiber gets easier every week. Talk to your surgeon or nutritionist about Milk of Magnesia. My nutritionist didn't want people relying on it indefinitely, but was fine with me using it very regularly for a month until I started getting more fiber.

Hi ladies! So here’s my situation, I had RNY surgery July 6th and everything has gone as expected and what was explained to me. Smooth sailing until yesterday and today. I’ve been expecting aunt flow and she’s coming slowly but surely. I woke up yesterday feeling great. I had a Protein Shake and went for a short walk. Shortly after returning I started to feel so sick. Like what dumping syndrome feels like. All the symptoms to a “T”. I couldn’t understand why and thought that maybe I drank my shake too fast? There was literally no explanation. I laid down and laid low for the rest of the day. My stomach was angry so I just had popsicles, broth, Water and 2 bites of plain Greek yogurt at the end of the day because “live and active cultures”. Most of it felt ok going down but not for HOURS after the possible dumping episode. Skip to today, I woke up feeling ok. My stomach mostly just felt a little tender but I decided to try and power through a Protein water at least. It took me 3hrs to finish it and now I feel just awful again. Not as bad as yesterday’s episode but generally not well. My first thoughts were maybe it’s the whey or lactose. Yesterday’s shake was a fairlife which has no lactose but I believe does contain whey. Today’s protein water (Protein2o) contained whey isolate. But then I started thinking maybe it’s my PMS symptoms just wreaking havoc on my insides and because I’m still healing maybe it feels more severe? I purchased some vegan protein to try tomorrow. But does anyone have any input? Should I call my doctor? Let me know if I’m missing any information that might help this all make more sense. Ugh just feel terrible and need relief.

That long on liquids?! Yikes! I was on "clear liquids" for the first three days post-op, then on "full liquids" until Day 14 - and even that included yogurt. Day 15 brought the transition to purees - so, essentially, I can eat anything that doesn't require chewing. I'll be in this stage until Day 29 (beginning of 5th week post-op). I've been advised that as I move through the stages, continue to go slow when introducing new foods and consistencies to see how your stomach handles them. Honestly, my doctor said any surgery complications were gone within the first 48 hours, so it's unlikely I'll "bust a gut" at this point (3 weeks post-op today). However, taking it slow and introducing foods slowly (and one at a time - in case any problem develops with digestion, I know what caused it) is the key to recovery. My doctor *did* say that weeks 2-3 were the most critical for recovery. I guess I'm past that now! My recovery has been textbook and my doc has been quite pleased at the two follow-up appointments I've had so far, so I must be doing something right!

I am 10 months out...no matter what I eat in the morning it goes straight through...diarrhea. Not in the afternoon or evening. Anyone else suffer this affliction. Protein drinks , yogurt, egg, anything. ANYONE.??? Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Protein bars are a huge slider for me. And it sucks, cause I love them. Had to put a hard limit on protein bars of three a week...cause sometimes I'm not that interested in cooking or assembling something healthy and it's just too easy to pick the delicious double chocolate answer. (and then pick it again a few hours later). I know that if I eat food with texture, I'll stay fuller longer. Want to get fiber, work on staying off supplements and crap, eat real food..... Need to keep up good habits...so I limit protein bars now. (Still keep one in my purse always) Oatmeal is a slider for me unless I make it pretty stiff, do steel cut oats, and put cherries and pecans in it. If I do my delux super oatmeal...it doesn't slide so much:) Same with refried beans...if I add the cheese and salsa and avocado and junk...I stay full. By themselves, they slide a little...but not as bad as other things. Yogurt with fruit, nuts and whole grain granola...same. Lot of soups slide...which stinks, because I love soup. My veggie soup doesn't slide so much. Split pea and bean soups are pretty decent to keep you full, too. Nuts are delicious and naughty. I love them and I eat them daily, but portion control sucks with nuts. SO densely caloric! I measure nuts in Tablespoons. And those suckers slide like crazy by themselves.

What are your sliders? Mine are yogurt, nuts and protein bars. Eventually I will feel restriction but I've consumed so many calories by that point it's like sabotage (never tried this, decided to be cautious when I saw the calorie count and my tolerance )

I followed my pre-op diet from my doctor's office. 3 - 8 oz Protein shakes a day, 1 non-fat yogurt, 1/2 cup of fruit, 1 lean cuisine or similar and 1 cup of salad with 1 tbsp of lite dressing. Example: 8 am - Protein shake 10 am - yogurt 12 pm - protein shake 2 pm - 1/2 cup of fruit (if using canned fruit, make sure it is in lite syrup) 4 pm - protein shake 7 pm - lean cuisine and 1 cup of salad w/1 tbsp of lite dressing What is your doctor recommending? Or is he just saying lose weight?

GNC sells Isopure already mixed in different flavors that have 40 gms of Protein. I tried Grape and didn't care for it, and today I bought the Orange and the Ice Tea with Lemon flavor. They don't taste too bad, and will do. I will be purchasing unflavored 100% whey Protein to add to foods that I eat in the mushy phase. I figured the Unflavored protein will be good in instant mashed potatoes, on refried Beans, cream of wheat, in yogurt so I am getting more protein. I have heard the unjury chicken broth is good. I was given a sample packet that I am going to try first before I buy it. Good luck to you!

Protein bars and shakes, virtually all nuts (including peanuts) are healthy but almonds are especially good, turkey jerky (you might want to try Pacific Gold from Costco), Old Wisconsin Turkey Bites (Walmart and over the top tasty), Kashi pita crisps, Babybell Light Mini Cheeses, string cheese, some (not all) trail mixes, yogurt (Oikos is the best I've ever tasted), rice cakes (Quaker has some really good ones, both sweet and savory flavors), I like the "small" Lunchables (Ham and Swiss and crackers only are my favorite but they can be hard to find - try Target), Kellogg Special K Cracker chips (great substitute for potato chips or fries), and you can't go wrong with chicken, fish or turkey as long as it's not fried. Colorado has the most beautiful mountains in the world!! Have a great trip!!

There are several yogurt brands out there. there are Light, nonfat, and sugar free versions. I think Dannon and/or Activia has a smoothie drink. Whatever you choose it should be w/o chunks- No "fruit on the bottom". Weight Watchers has some you may like and don't seem to have fruit pieces; they are lo fat and sugar. I try to check the amt. of protein grams / serving in the container. Some are as low as 3 while others are 7-8.. Some use gelatin and others do not. Yoplait has several Whips. Lights., and regular versions without fruit pieces.

Im not really sure about the yogurt but I think that might still be considered a mushie and a bit too much for your stomach right now. But what about sugar free popcicles. They taste good and help with hydration. I almost lived on them my 1st few days post op.

my doc said I could have yogurt I'm on full liquids now and it's part of the full liquids (: Popsicles are good