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It is odd that each surgeon has different diets after surgery. At 2 weeks after surgery I was JUST starting pureed diet. If you are concerned I suggest you eat something soft like eggs, refried Beans, greek yogurt, fish, or making chicken and pureeing it with some broth, sauce, or milk. If you don't feel comfortable then don't eat something so solid. It is suggested to follow your surgeons plan but but I feel like thats more the rule for when you want to move faster than their plan, if you want to move slower that is up to you!

Agree w/vickyd. Protein drink ( mix powder w/milk ) for b'fast; Greek yogurt as a dessert at night.

Has anyone done frozen yogurt soft post op?

I was on purees as soon as I got out of the hospital. I was eating scrambled eggs, yogurt. Call your dr. and ask. They all have so many different rules. Good Luck.

I am a year and a half out. Still use Protein shakes daily because I am VERY tight and can only eat about a 1/4 of food at a time. I use Kefir, a dairy product similiar to yogurt. It has 14 grams of protein for 8 ounces. Then I add in a greek yogurt for another 14 grams so each shake is 28 grams of protein. I will also add some fruit and some Splenda Brown Sugar for sweetness. Love them!

I am going to start adding protein powder to my food to get away from drinking protein shakes (which I am beginning to loathe) so my question is, when you are making hot food like oatmeal or soup, do you add the protein powder at the beginning and cook it with the food, or at the end when the food is already hot? I added protein powder to yogurt yesterday without a problem, but that was cold. I haven't tried any in hot food yet.

Yay... lucky Junebug 36 that you get mushies! I have 5 more days until I move to full liquids. I am pretty tired of liquids although I don't really feel hungry, just tired of drinking the same old, same old. It will be nice to add the variety of applesauce and yogurt and cottage cheese and stuff. I seem to get more 'full' drinking my Protein shake in the AM so and I drink 1/2 and then wait to drink the other 1/2. For my afternoon shake, as long as I drink slow, I can drink the whole 11 ozs. This is not a feeling I am used to (feeling satisfied and able to stop eating/drinking when I am satisfied) and I am loving it. I am only 3 days post-op so I am still struggling with the C02 gas pains but every day it is getting better. So far I have no regrets.

I was about where you are 4 days ago, but today is my 15th day post-op and I turned a corner (thankfully)! I feel amazing today, minimal pain and it's the last day I have be on clear liquids. It was also my first day back to work! I'm not sure if you are on clear or full liquids? Clear liquids-drink broth, protein shakes made with water, Isopure, SF/no carb Jello, SF/no-carb popsicles. Full liquids-Drink protein with almond or skim milk (Syntrax nectar is my favorite protein-no carbs, mixes well with water or milks), low-fat creamy soups (such as low fat/low carb butternut squash soup or tomato soup or cream of broccoli soup with the chunks strained out). I use Ideal Protein or Barwise products, but you can also make your own from scratch if you have time. Soft foods phase-eat scrambled eggs or tofu, low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat SF yogurt (use Fage Greek fat free for optimal protein with low carbs). Eat only 2 oz at a time. Do not drink 30 minutes before or after you eat to train yourself to eat slowly and fill on 2 oz. If you drink while you eat, you will eat more than you should and can stretch your stomach which will ultimately lead to slowed or stopped weight loss. Eventually this will become weight gain. Phase 4-lifelong phase is food you can tolerate, only 2 oz at a time, chew/chew/chew! No beverage 30 minutes before and after eating. Set a timer on your phone to help you. Journal everything you eat to hold yourself accountable. Please let me know if you want me to email you my post-op eating plan. All the best to you! It will get better and suddenly you will feel amazing! Thank you so much for all of the information, yes please if you don't mind emailing it to me I would appreciate it.

Jamie, I was definitely shooting for the moon thinking id get through 4oz. My nut book says 4oz of meat, and the label said 21grams of protein so I was sooo excited. I can eat 5oz Greek yogurts so I guess I thought that 4oz would be a breeze. NOPE, said the grouchy pouch. Funniest thing? My mom, who weighs 125 pounds soaking wet and has never been big her entire life polished off three pieces of bread and butter, a cup of cheesy rice, green Beans and twice the turkey I had on my plate BEFORE I got through my measley 1.3oz of turkey. Lol. My nutritionist told me to eat every 3 hours and has me end my night with a dessert of either SF Jello, pudding or an Atkins bar or Atkins candy. I do find the Atkins bar really hits the spot for the night. I don't eat the "meal bars" just the snack ones and only have them 2-3 times a week.

Yes, I am on day 5 of an all liquid Protein diet. I can have Protein shakes, Jello, broth, crystal light & yogurt smothies. The first couple of days I did alright except for a bad headache which I attributed to stopping my beloved Diet Pepsi cold turkey. :thumbup: I am not diabetic but I do have Insulin Resistance. At day 5 my headaches aren't so bad but none of the allowable liquids are stopping the hunger pangs. Yesterday afternoon I went out to Lowes with hubby and had to sit down...I suddenly felt so dizzy, nauseous, clammy and my brain stayed pretty fuzzy until I went to bed. And as the day wears on I get so tired of the hunger pains that I am irritable. I have ten more days to go pre-op then I will be on about the same diet for another 14 days post-op, hopefully after surgery things will be a little easier.

Kashi GoLean Orginial is good too. One cup is a serving with Protien at 13 grams, Fiber at 10 grams, sugar only 9 grams and 160 calories. I asked for a Yogurt maker for Christmas so my daughters and I are going to try our hand at making our own. My youngest is Lactose Intolerant so we are going to try making plain yogurt Lactose free so we can add stuff to it. We found some sugar-free syrups at wal-mart quite cheap.

Usually with dinner there's a salad or green veg. What I'm showing there is purely my protein. I have to force myself to get to 100g carbs, but if I don't my athletic performance starts to suffer - so there may be rice or quinoa or a potato at dinner. Or a few tablespoons of granola in with the yogurt. But last night, I had 6 ounces of rib eye steak - left over from a night or two before and that was it. I didn't feel like anything green and was full after the steak. I always eat my protein first then if there's room I eat the rest.

I was able to swallow pills right away (a day or two after surgery). I do have one large pill that I haven't gotten back to taking yet. I wonder the same thing...maybe crush it (it's just really a horse pill). I'll be watching to see how folks make it palatable. I did sprinkle my Biotin in my yogurt this morning, just to see how it would be. No taste change, but really gritty!

Feeling good now, got a little brave this morning and tried some scrambled eggs and cottage cheese, maybe a tbsp of each. Ouch.... Food is going to take time! Not drinking with the food is also a huge challenge. Only takes about 2 tbsp of yogurt to fill me up as well. Thought I was feeling good enough to skip pain meds today but starting to get a little more pain and soreness, may have to get a small dose.

You can use Fairlife FF milk to add protein without making hugely caloric too! You can also stir in a spoon of Greek yogurt to make it richer and add to the protein content. You can also add nutritional yeast to up the B vitamins and also add a little parmesan to up the protein as well!

Haha! Yeah. There is a BIG difference between yogurt and meat. I always love the posts that ask how much people can eat. It definitely depends on WHAT you are eating. 5 oz. of yogurt is EASY. But I STILL can't eat more than 2 oz. of tuna.

Thyroid - yeah definitely go and get your bloodwork done. In addition to the TSH, T4 and T3 (If I remember correctly), you should ask your doctor to check your Vit D levels. My family has a history of thyroid issues (mom is hypothyroidism - can't lose weight, her sister has hyperthyroidism - can't gain weight); my sister's daughter was born without a thyroid (or it wasn't functioning). I can check off almost all the symptoms too but my bloodwork has always been within the 'normal' range. I understand your frustration there too. For the Vit D levels - get that checked. If your Vit D levels are low, you will be sluggish and tired. That's a different story, but might help you feel better / have more energy to get to the gym. "Diet" - well this is supposed to be our new lifestyle (eye roll). So far I'm feeling better on this South Beach / Atkins / Paleo blend of a diet I'm doing. I've mostly tried being gluten free and my stomach has thanked me. I have eggs every morning, but I'm a boring no thinking type of person lol. Are you just flat out tired and no suggestions will help? I really like doing the 'egg muffin tin' recipes. There's lots of different recipes if you google. Make one batch at the beginning of the week and you're set for a while. I really like the eggs, cheese and ham recipes. There's eggs, spinach and feta, or eggs, tomatoes, and cheese; etc. Also, what about yogurt with some fruit? I like the chobani greek versions. I tried to look it up online - which chicken wrap are you doing? The fried chicken one is pretty high in calories, but skipping the shell is a good idea. The shell gets stuck for me. I can't do the fried chicken a the breading gets stuck for me. Did you have all the condiments with it too? If it was the grilled chicken could it have been too dry? When I go to Chick-fil-a and get the grilled nuggets, I add some BBQ sauce to make sure it goes down. I'll also bite the already small nuggets at least into 3 so that I'm only chewing a small amount. I'd worry about the graham crackers, at least for me, having those carbs will make me hungry again. It's weird. I used to think that carbs helped to fill me up, but they just make me hungry really quickly. I'd suggest to go ahead an sign up for myfitnesspal. It's free. Many of us use it for logging our intake and exercise. If you have a fitbit you can sync that too. There's also a phone app to log while you're on the go. You might want to keep a watch on how much Peanut Butter you're eating. Yes it's good for you and good Protein, but it tends to be high in sugar, carbs and fat. That would make me want to eat more. Also, if you don't stay on top of the hunger and you're playing catch up at the end of the day, you might take in a lot more to feed the hungry monster than if you would have snacked more often. I like to have an afternoon snack of either yogurt or beef Jerky quite often. I eat out a lot too. There's a number of other threads on here devoted to eating out options. Alcohol is one of my weaknesses and a big source of my empty calories. I log those calories/carbs too. Also, are you able to see another doctor / surgeon to get a second professional opinion? I'm not a doctor or any sort of expert. Just giving you my opinion / thoughts to try to help you out.

My number one recommendation for beginners is 1) get a 4 quart crock pot, crock pot liners(found in the aluminum foil aisle of stores) and check out allrecipes.com crock pot recipe section 2) Get a George Foreman grill (I have the GF 360), get the one with removable plates for easier, effortless clean up The easiest recipes for the GFG are meats marinated in either a dry rub, or Italian dressing. I use Italian dressing A LOT for chicken breasts. I slice the chicken breast (boneless skinless) into strips like chicken tenders, toss it in a big gallon size ziploc baggy with italian dressing, let it marinade for up to 24 hours. Heat up the GF grill, slap the chicken on the grill, cook for 7-8 minutes, remove and VOILA super moist, easy to eat, tender chicken. I make kabobs with red/green pepper chunks, red potato chunks, beef sausage links and chicken breast chunks. I marinade the peppers, chicken and sausage in the Robusto Italian dressing my WishBone. Take 3-4 size B red potatoes and quarter them, rinse, and fill a microwave safe bowl with Water, microwave for 8 minutes until the potatoes are semi-soft. I skewer the meat, peppers and potatoes on bamboo skewers, and cook them on the GFG for 8-10 minutes rotating once during that time to ensure even cooking. You can use any veggie you like squash and zucchini hold up in the marinade mix as do mushrooms, I just do not like any of those, but will make them for my family occasionally. Ground beef/turkey recipes are super easy depending on your taste, and again, I highly recommend allrecipes.com for recipe searching. I've posted several easy to make recipes that are more sleeve friendly that I've prepared for my family in the "food"/recipe section of the forum. With the crock pot recipes, you can toss everything in, FROZEN chicken breast work great and the meat doesn't turn to absolute mush, set it on low for 8-10 hours and when y'all get home, throw a side dish together, and your dinner is ready in less than 10-20 minutes. I buy a lot of the Green Giant Steamables like the broccoli with cheese sauce, and the mixed veggies with rosemary butter sauce are staples in my home. Any of the recipes that you find that call for sour cream, substitute non-fat plain flavored Greek yogurt, you cut carbs, increase Protein, and it doesn't change the taste of the recipe. Greek yogurt actually makes things more creamy in my opinion. If you like barbque, get a small 2-4lbs roast (pork or beef) work well. Trim all the visible fat from the roast, toss it in the crock pot with barbque sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, a little worchestershire sauce, set the crock pot on low for 8-10 hours, the fat that cooks out of the meat will be on top, strain it off with a ladle, pull the roast out of the crock pot and shred it with 2 forks, then toss it back in the crock pot to mix with the sauce. Any leftovers can be frozen for up to 6 months in a freezer bag, and up to one year in a vacuum sealed, freezer bag. I go through probably 20 cans of various creamy Soups per month. I buy all the reduced fat/reduced sodium soups, and these make great gravies, and makes meat super tender.

I've heard that yogurt suppose 2 b good & have a lot of Protein just can't seem 2 find it n my stores

I'm not much of a yogurt person, the only kind I've had in the past year or two is Greek with honey. Since honey is probably not a good idea please tell me your favorites! Thank you!!!

Hey! I get very discouraged. But I keep trying. I see no change in the scale for weeks at a time, but in trying on my levis I hadn't worn in awhile - they were too loose! So - according to the physiologist at the hospital where I go for exercise, I'm gaining muscle and losing fat - but muscle weighs more! She said my body is "morphing". YOU HAVE TO EXERCISE! It doesn't fall off by dieting only. If you are exercising regularly but still eating too much you will stay the same. Maybe your band isn't tight enough yet. I finally got to the "sweet spot" at 6.1 cc's. My band was a 10cc. For a loooong time I could eat a horse if you put it in front of me. Not anymore. One cup of food (protein and veg combined) fills me up for about 2 to 2-1/2 hrs. Then I need my "snack". Usually a string cheese stick and a few almonds or 6 oz of greek yogurt with some fruit. KEEP AT IT! Don't give up!

I have been asked so many times on this board about what Protein drinks are good and some sample meals that I used during the first month and things I did after the 1st month. These are very valid questions and I know when I first started out I had all the same questions. Again this is long so please print this out if you would like. Protein Drinks. My all-time favorite is: Premier Protein Drink. It comes in 11 oz. drink boxes already mixed. There are 30 grams of protein in each box, 160 calories per box, 1 gram of sugar and 5 grams of carbs. The flavor I buy is Chocolate—that is all I can find at costco. I get mine at Costco and I understand that you can get them at Sam’s Club too. You can order these on line at Costco and Sam’s club. They are also available at this Web Site. http://www.premiernutrition.com/product.html I pay about $25.00 for a carton of 18 drink boxes at Costco in the city where I live. I drink one of these every morning for my Breakfast and nothing else and it has been almost 3 years since my “sleeve surgery.” The next Protein Drink that I have tried is called: Matrix 2.0 Mint Cookies made by Syntrax. You can check this out on this Web Site. http://www26.netrition.com/syntrax_matrix_page.html The cost for 2.16 lbs. is $22.99 plus postage. Item # 39-0963 My next Protein Drink that I have tried and like is: nectar, variety pack, you get 13 single servings in a variety pack. The cost is $22.95. This is the Web Site and they are made by Syntrax also. http://www6.netrition.com/syntrax_nectar_page.html There is one other Protein Drink that I found on Obesity Help.com that was rated really high by 188 people. I have never had it, but you might want to check it out. The name of the protein drink is: Carb Solution High Protein Power—it comes in more than one flavor. They also have cans of it already mixed. The Protein Powers cost $12.99. It has 110 calories, 1 gram of sugar, 4 carbs, and 20 grams of protein. This is the Web Site for Carb Solution at Wal-Mart. http://www.buycheapr.com/us/result.jsp?q=Carb+Solution&qs=ti&ga=us7&ts=go On www.ObesityHelp.com they have a lot of different information about Protein Drinks and they list so many different brands and people have rated the ones they really like check this site out. It has a lot of information about almost all the protein drinks that we find out there. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/nutrition/a,prodsearch/searchtype,1/criteria,11/ I hate Isopure. It does NOT taste good to me—I know that some people like it. I call it Isopuke, and it reminds me of pond scum. I have been told if you buy it at a GNC and don’t like it and still have your receipt they will refund your money if it hasn’t been more than 30 days since you purchased it from them. I guess they will do that with protein powers too—ask before you buy what their policy is about returning something if you don’t like it. So if you want to try it remember this. There always seems to be a GNC in most Malls. This 1st month after weight loss surgery is going to be the hardest one to do. You just get tired of what they want you to do. It is for a reason—the doctors know what they are doing. You need to let your new stomach heal from a major surgery, so that is why you have to do these things the 1st month. You should try to keep your calories at 800 per day and no more than 20 carbs a day if you want to lose weight. The 1st month you really don’t eat a lot. So in the following months keep track of everything you are putting in your mouth. You can track what you eat on this site. I found it to be very helpful to write down EVERYTHING I was putting into my body. If I didn’t write it down I was going over 800 calories per day and would not know I was. It does take time to keep track of it—you are worth the effort, but once you get the hang of it you will know what 800 calories really are. When you exercise this site helps you figure out the number of calories you have burned and that allows you to eat more than 800 calories. It is an easy site to use and it if FREE. http://www.livestrong.com/ The 1st 10 days for me had to be clear liquids—you had to be able to see through them. broth. I used and love “Better Than Bouillon.” It comes in a jar and it is like a paste. I like it because it tastes great and you can make single servings. It is located with bouillon cubes and Soups in the grocery store. I had chicken and beef. I also made some home chicken Soup and strained everything out of it and just had the chicken broth. I would try to have ¼ of a cup of it for part of my meal, but sometimes it was just too much for me. Remember you have a new smaller stomach and it is swollen and can only hold about as much as the size of your thumb. Jello-- sugar free. I might have 2 tablespoons of Jello. That was something I had fixed and ready when I got home from the hospital. I tried to drink 64 oz. of Water and sometimes I could get it in and sometimes I couldn’t. Do the best you can, and just sip it all day long. I would add Crystal Light to the water—it made water taste a whole lot better. Apple juice, white grape juice, sugar free sports drinks, decaf hot tea, also decaf ice tea. Veggie broth or the broth from French Onion soup. Sugar Free Popsicles if my stomach was upset this really seemed to help. The 2nd 10 days. This was much easier to do. If I didn’t mention it, it was difficult for me to swallow my medication so I would crush the medication up and mix it with about 1 tablespoon of applesauce and some Equal and mix my meds in the applesauce and take my medication that way. You will have creamy foods the next 10 days I loved so many of the creamy soups. I used regular Campbell’s creamy soups that they had. I was only having about ¼ cup or maybe a few tablespoons of soup. Jello was still good for me. Sugar Free pudding, maybe 2 tablespoons full. Yogurt a few tablespoons of it. Frozen yogurt. Applesauce a couple tablespoons. A little cream cheese. Sugar Free Fudge Cycles. Premier Protein chocolate Drink mixed in blender with about 4 ice cubes and 1 cap full of Miralax. When you have a lot of protein you get constipated and Miralax works for that. It is tasteless and blends really great in the blender with the protein drink. I use the Miralx daily and it is NOT habit forming. Soft boiled eggs or soft scrambled eggs—eggs didn’t work that well for me. Low fat Chocolate milk. Cottage Cheese. Sugar Free Popsicles Creamy Peanut Butter. The 3rd 10 days and final part of the first month. Yeah the 1st month is almost over. I could eat mushy food. This was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. Mashed sweet potato or mashed yams with a small amount of butter on it. Mashed up chicken noodle soup. Mashed up homemade veggie soup. Eggs that were soft boiled or soft scrambled. Applesauce. Cottage cheese. Premier Protein Drink with miralax blended in the blender with 4 ice cubes. Mashed up steamed carrots Mashed up and blended a little tuna with a small amount of mayo. Blended chicken breast with no skin on it. Ham blended with a small amount of mayo. Water with Crystal Light Jello with fat free cool whip. Yogurt and frozen yogurt. Sugar free pudding. Protein Bars chewed up really well—I could never eat a whole one—just a few bites. Mashed potatoes and cream cheese mixed in with them. Mashed black Beans they have a lot of protein in them. I would have about 1/4 the a cup and that is about 9 grams of protein Sugar Free Popsicles Hard Boiled eggs made into egg salad. If I went out to eat I found that a cup of soup was about the best thing I found that I could eat. I also felt like I was on display sometimes because family and friends would watch me eat. It used to bother me, but not anymore. I watched them eat and I thought to myself. “Oh my gosh they inhale their food and they hardly chew it.” I was always the last one to finish eating. That is OK too. At first I actually mourned the loss of food. Later on I was thrilled that I had the restriction of a sleeve because I was losing weight. I found that chicken and fish were easier to chew and I liked them a lot more than red meat. I said that chicken was one of the main sources of protein for me. I found Kirkland (Costco brand) grilled Chicken breast strips. It is already cooked and I would put one bag (1 pound) in the freezer and use the other (1 pound bag later.) It is really handy to have around and a quick meal to fix if the chicken is already cooked. We also ate more fish. I would buy Halibut or Sole—a mild fish. I would marinate it in OJ or crushed strawberries or blueberries all day. I would also marinate it in law calories Italian Salad Dressing all day. I would cook it in a pan with Pam spray and put garlic or rosemary in the pan when I was cooking it. I don’t eat a lot of red meat and I used to be a real red meat lover. For me it took too much chewing and it just didn’t taste as good as it used to. I will now have a small hamburger and only eat 1/3 to ½ because it just is too much food for me. Ham was something that worked well for me too. I found I could get a large think slice of from the grocery story deli and I would have it for a protein—I would slice off about 2 oz. of the ham. I also enjoy a Taco Salad and I make mine with chicken instead of beef. I love Shrimp and lobster too, so those are my treats that I reward myself with. A typical meal I ate starting the 2nd month after WLS. Breakfast: Premier Protein Drink with Miralax and 4 ice cubes in the blender. Lunch: 2 oz. of chicken or ham with a small amount of cheese melted over it. I would have a bean salad—it has 4 different beans in it. Snack: I would have about 10 dry roasted almonds and maybe 10 dried cherries Dinner: 2 oz. of Chicken or Fish, steamed veggies of some kind. Sometimes my husband and I would split a small baked potato I put a teaspoon of butter and sour cream on it. Snack: Some type of fresh fruit or a Protein Bar. Carbs and what to eat and what NOT to eat About the 3rd month after WLS I would add a little bread in my diet—I could only eat about ½ a slice of bread or ½ of a hamburger bun and they are the “thin” buns that they have out now. They also make a thin bagel. You just have to look when you are shopping in your local grocery store for these things. Try to find Whole Grain carb products and if you can’t the do the whole wheat. Try to stay away from WHITE carbs. They are white refined carbs and that is how we got fat eating a lot of them. Rice should be brown rice and only a small amount—NO white rice. Pasta comes is Spinach or Whole Wheat and you can have only small amounts of it. banana – Medium size has 27 Grams of carbs—I stay away from the banana, and I love them, but I just don’t want to spend all my carbs for the day on a banana. I use a Mexican soft flour shell made of spinach or sun dried tomatoes for making a small sandwich too—you know they call them wraps. Beverage: They do not want you to drink something when you eat—you need the room for the food so that you can get your protein in firsts. During the day I would have water or decaf tea for my liquid after I ate or all during the day. As I said the Crystal Light Individual packs and different flavors worked well in a bottle of water. It seems like it took me forever to eat and drink all the things I was supposed to be eating and drinking. I was always sipping on the protein drink and water. supplements you should take. It is important that you take a multi-Vitamin. I had a difficult time trying to swallowing large pills. Look for an Adult Chewable multi-vitamin. I also have the Chocolate Chewable Calcium that I buy at Costco. As time goes on it will get easier to swallow larger pills. Do NOT take the multi-vitamin on an empty stomach, it may make you sick. My Primary Care doctor was very helpful and after I had been home 2 weeks from WLS, she had me come into for an office visit. She ran a full blood panel and made sure all my levels were ok. I knew my potassium was low when I left Dr. Aceves in Mexicali—they ran my blood test before I left and gave me a very detailed report about my surgery to give to my doctor here in the US. Dr. Aceves told me to have it watched when I got home. I now take a potassium tablet prescribed by my doctor and work on eating food high in potassium. Starting the 3rd month I started to eat more salads about here. I had a favorite and still eat it. It is Fresh Spinach, with slices of almonds, feta cheese, dried cherries, or fresh strawberries, a tablespoon of bacon and Paul Newman’s Light Raspberry & Walnut dressing on it. I sometimes add some of my Kirkland (Costco) Grilled Chicken breast strips to it and then it is an entire meal in one bowl. Chef’s Salad is a great one meal in a bowl thing to have and I just use any kind of dressing I want on it. This salad has lettuce, tomatoes, olives, sliced hard boiled eggs, turkey or chicken, and some ham sliced on it with some cheese. REMEMBER make this in a much smaller bowl than the normal Chef’s salad comes in. Sometimes I will add a small amount of Whole Grain dinner roll or some bread with it. Stir Fry is a great way to get meat and veggies all in one meal too. I have a pan that works great on the BBQ grill and I do a stir fry on the BBQ in the summer time. Have a sense of adventure and take some of your old recipes and see if you can convert them into a healthier recipe. Use veggies that you have never tried. Try some “rubs” on you meat located in the spice section or the grocery store and try to marinate some of your meats all day before cooking them—it really changes the taste of them. Desert I don’t want you to feel deprived. I learned that sometime just a bite or two of a desert really satisfied my need for it. Instead of the WHOLE piece of cake or pie, just a sliver of it worked for me to satisfy my need for it. When you want a cookie have just one small cookie and not the entire bag OK. Sugar free pudding with a small amount of Fat Free Cool Whip is good too. Use Splendia to make a desert that you like. So everything in moderation works. Exercise I was never a fan of exercise until I started to walk and I found out how much I benefited from it. Now I try to exercise 5 days a week. Find some form of exercise that works for you and do it. Start slow and then add more until you are comfortable with it. I am sure I have missed a few things, and I will write those down as I think of them and make a Vol. 2 if I needed too. These are just my suggestions, spice them up and make your food interesting and don’t get in a rut. This is not a diet, you will learn to adapt it and find things that work for you and that you like eating. This is a LIFESTYLE change. Make it work for you. You have the tool of restriction now use your new tool to your advantage. The fat doesn’t just melt off of you. It does require work and effort on your part. Stalls—No weight loss for a period of days. Be prepared you may have periods where you lose NO weight. We call those “Stalls.” You will panic and think for sure that you are the “one person this is NOT going to work on.” I know I was sure that was me. NOT true at all. Our bodies just do this. Mine lasted for 9 days—no weight loss at all. Just keep doing what you are doing and the weight will start coming off again I promise you. I can tell you not to panic but most of you will anyway—that is pretty normal too. Hugs, Suzanne Sleeved 10/21/2008 Lost 105 pounds.

I too am three weeks out and my weightloss has come to a complete stop. This week I had a follow up with my surgeon and he advised me to watch my calories. Its very easy during the full liquid and mushy phase to consume too many calories with yogurt and creamy soups. He advised me to try more protein in the way of ground turkey and fish. I have to admit that the idea of pureed food made me gag but Im being creative and making ground turkey with pinto beans and a touch of salsa. I blend it just enough so that its not too chunky. The best thing is that this meal kept me feeling full for a long time. I drink two protein shakes a day. The chewable vitamins gag me, any suggestions for making them more appealing? All this and still trying to drink 64 oz of water. Im excited and feel like I am back on track!

I just had my surgery with Dr. Ortiz in Mexico, TJ and it was above and beyond what I could have ever expected. I know everyone told me great things about getting banded in Mexico, but experiencing it myself, it exceeded all my expectations. I am day 4 post op and feel very good. I feel a little swelling and have restriction. One 4 oz. yogurt is enough to fill me to the limit. They have been doing banding longer over there than here. I know Dr. Ortiz has done over 4000. I give it a 10+ Audree

At 4 days post-op, really focus on getting your Fluid volume in vs Protein grams. You'll be okay for a while with less protein as long as you're getting close to your Water goal. Going forward, I second getting some unflavored Protein powder. There are many brands, I'm a GENEPRO fan but there are other brands that others have had good luck with. Find one, because once you get to pureed/soft foods, that powdered protein will be the key to your success. I put it in cottage cheese, refried Beans, yogurt, pudding...anything soft and moist. I'm over 6 months post-op and I still put a scoop in my coffee every morning. Good luck!