Search the Community

I just got back from Disneyland and 2 cruises last week and lost 5 lbs. As long as you're going to be resting (a lot), you should be fine because there are always fresh yogurts to be found, nice pureed Soups at all of the meals and the wait staff will accommodate just about any request. I stocked my cabin's fridge with Protein drinks to supplement as well. Walking laps on a cruise ship can be quite nice!

I would suggest getting a thermal cup that you can put a protein shake in and it will stay cold for hours. Then if you can get a few sips in here and there hopefully you could drink at least half if not the whole shake over your shift. Then you don't feel you have to push yourself to eat a lot at lunch. I would choose a slider food like high protein yogurt or cottage cheese for lunch. Make sure you can easily eat chicken, tuna etc on your own before trying those at work. If you sit during your lunch maybe have your phone out playing a game or watching a video to help pace yourself. Then you can take a bite of your lunch after every game, 2 min clip etc.

I also had my surgery on the 30th. I had to stay an extra day due to the vomiting and nausea. It was not a pleasant experience by any means. I managed to do alright and get home. I seen the surgeon yesterday and am down 20 pounds since the surgery. I have progressed to the puréed diet. I tried the eggs today. That was a big no go for me. I was sicker than a dog. Yuck . So back to the drawing board with the liquids again. One thing I will say I am having a hard time finding Greek yogurt that is artificially sweetened, blended, no fruit pieces and contain less than 20 grams of carbs in it. Any suggestions at all? The premier protein shakes at Walmart I nearly died at the price of them. I bought the whey protein but that stuff is nasty as can be . I can only eat canned meat, yogurt, mozzarella, Swiss, baby food, refried beans, all low fat n no sugar. Still take in 64 ounces of water a day. They just added the multivitamins n b12 last week. This week they added vit c n d and b complex. I still have to venture out and obtain these . I find myself extremely fatigued so I rest when I can, considering I am older than majority of you all. Lol Hope this helps Cathy

Eventually you'll be able to have snacks--just choose the right things. One of my favorite things is a handful of cashews, for example. Or eat a yogurt (such as Oikos triple zero)--I find that I can take a very long time to finish one of them even now, and back in the early stages I could only eat a half a one at a time. Or maybe a stick of cheese? You'll find things you like that won't seem strange to other people if you choose them instead of something like cake.

My RNY was on the 19th of September and the Doctor has me crushing all pills until the 19th of October. I can hardly wait to bypass the foul tasting ground up meds. I've been mixing with unsweetened Applesauce or Oikos Triple Zero Yogurt

Day three of my pouch test. For info on this check this site out - http://www.5daypouchtest.com/ Today I can have proteins, but soft proteins. So far menu as follows: Bfast - yogurt with added protein mix Lunch Chicken soup, mostly ate the chicken Dinner canned white meat chicken with a little spinach dip mixed in. Wt - didn't weigh today - yay. I'm trying to stay off the scales until Monday....

Compassion is something some just do not have, I had my surgery on the 28th. it will get easier. Same with me on the yogurt though. I don't know if you like fresh lemon aid but that feels good on my stomach also. As for your family, ignore them you have the will power to do this, you can accomplish it with support from others on here.

Ok, I got in a bit earlier for my second fill, yesterday 3/16, thank God....the hunger was getting pretty much. No portion control, and stall of weight loss, even with some exercise. So, now I feel a bit tight, having a bit of difficulty getting even the soft yogurt down. I am going to try to make it without calling the doc to unfill. I think after my stomach heals from the additional 1.7cc, I will be ok with eating again. Not hungry, mind is clear...no grazing, I think I will be fine and even might find my new total amt 6.4cc in my band, just might be the right amt for this month. Oh, got the Wii game.."Dancing with the stars" and love it. Time goes so fast when you are having fun. I have found myself sweating, that's a good thing. Patti with a smile:smile2:

Snacks I like: Banana Light Greek Yogurt Light String Cheese 1/4 cup mixed nuts (I know some people can't eat nuts.) Quest bar Protein shake (Some programs do not recommend after a certain point, not sure why?) Besides the banana, protein seems to be the key here if I'm hungry.

I don't cook an awful lot, either, maybe 2-3 meals a week. I'm pretty diligent about breakfast, though - I whip up something quick like oatmeal with protein powder and peanut butter/raisins, or make a whole bunch of oat pancakes with blueberries ahead of time and just heat them up. Otherwise, we eat out a lot, so I'm always packing leftovers. Even sushi and sashimi is fine the next day - I just put the leftovers in an airtight container and stick an ice pack in the bag in the morning, I just make sure to eat it no later than lunchtime the next day. I try to make healthier choices when we eat out. For example, tonight I opted for grilled fish tacos with dressing on the side - so it was mostly lean protein, veggies, and a corn tortilla with like a teaspoon of mayo-based dressing. Not unhealthy at all, IMO! And now I have another taco left over for lunch tomorrow. I also pack healthy snacks to have throughout the day - I like fruit, veggies such as baby carrots and edamame, and Oikos single-serving yogurts. When all else fails, there are always protein bars, although I try not to eat them too often.

hi Tex, in the evening i feel like Pavlof's dog when bell rings, he runs and eats his dog food when the tv goes on I "sometimes" run to the kitchen don't keep bad foods around usually i'll grab my Lite and Fit Greek Yogurt luv, luv the blueberry healthy food is great but not if you go overboard on example Protein bars i can eat 2 slowly without much of a problem @@Sai - maybe you and i should talk on the phone while we're watching my 600 lb life LOL knowing the problem is half the solution good luck to us both kathy

Well, the pain in moreso from the wounds and my 'tummy' still being swollen... Everything seems like its getting stuck, including liquids... I'm taking pain meds (not too often as I'm nervous about forming a habit) pepcid 2x daily, chewable vitamins, and anti nausea when needed.... The protien shakes were making me sick, so after a lengthy discussion with my dietician, she suggested I find my protien elsewhere. So I am drinking 2% milk (skim 4 weeks after surgery), yogurt, and Soups with no less than 13g of protien.... I'm trying to get all my protiens in, but the dietician wants me to focus on hydration right now and in a week or two, it'll be easier to get the correct amount of protiens in... But it feels like nothing will be normal again... :-( ~emily anne

I have purchased several "snacky" high-protein foods, like protein puffs and chips, in single size portions. That said, I almost never eat them and still treat those like a treat (i.e. going to a movie). I find that mostly I eat basic protein-rich meals, veggie omelet, yogurt and berries, peanut butter and thin, whole-grain toast or apple slices. And because I can eat so little, I find I almost never have room or desire left for snacks anyway. My program encourages whole foods, with a focus on protein and fibre, and pretty much no snacking unless it is more than 4 hours between meals. I love the simplicity of the program that my surgical team promotes.

7/24 - 10 weeks out, 30.5 pounds down, from 271 to 240.5 Well, I'm truckin' along, and although it SEEMS slow to me, I just realized it actually hasn't been all that slow since I got my first fill. I just looked back at the calendar, and my fill was 2 weeks ago, on 7/10. On 7/10 I weighed 249, and I now weigh 240.5. So, that's a little less than 10 pounds in 2 weeks!! That's actually fantastic!! Wow, all of a sudden I'm counting how many weeks till we go to the beach for our summer vacation, and calculating potentially how far down I COULD be if this restriction holds out!!!!!!! I could be a svelte 210 pounds by then if I play my cards right! Ahhh!! Can't even let myself hope for that, because I don't want to end up feeling discouraged. I've been telling myself that I'd be happy if I could be somewhere in the 220's by September 6, which is the day we leave for the beach. Haven't seen the 220's in several years. Haven't seen 210 since I met my husband in 1999. Under 200 - haven't seen Onederland since I was in college in the early 90's!! The last time I was able to squeeze into a woman's size 12 was when I was in either 9th or 10th grade, and I was able to wear one specific pair of my mom's jeans. They were a size 12, and I have no idea why she had them, because she has always been a size 8 her entire life. But for whatever reason, she had these jeans that were a size 12, and I BARELY fit into them, but I could button and zip them, and that's all that mattered to me. It made me feel so good about myself for that brief period when I could wear them. Funny how you remember things like that. So, getting into a size 12 again someday is going to feel like a HUGE milestone for me. Anyway, so since I got this fill 2 weeks ago, I have noticed that I experience what many other bandsters have described on LBT - my restriction seems to fluctuate day by day, sometimes hour by hour. It's weird, there doesn't seem to really be any rhyme or reason to it? Some days I can eat breakfast and lunch, albeit carefully, but with no problems whatsoever. Some days I can hardly get yogurt to go down without a whole lot of gurgling and noise and burping (non-productive) and other fanfare. On most days, I've found that it's much easier to eat dinner than lunch, and breakfast, forget about it. By the time I get all my pills and vitamins down in the morning, I'm full and don't have any time left for breakfast anyway. That makes me feel guilty, because I know it's bad to skip breakfast, but I really can't help it. Sometimes I'll bring a yogurt along to work with me, and I can eat that at my desk, although it takes a while. Several times I've tried to eat lunch and ended up having to throw it away. I know that SOMETIMES it's because I take too big of a bite right off the bat and don't chew it enough, and then whatever it was gets stuck, and then I'm just done - can't put anything else on top of that bc that will just make it worse (learned THAT the hard way) so I just have to give up and wait till the next meal. But sometimes even if I'm following all the rules and being very conscious about it, even the smallest most chewed-to-liquid bite won't go down easily at lunch time. It's very strange! Every few days I find dinner is challenging as well, but most days dinner is easier than lunch. Mind you, I'm measuring my food intake in bites now, not cups. Lord, I never thought I'd say that. I'm amazed at how my sense of portions has changed. I still have food envy when I watch my husband take a gigantic bite out of some big juicy cheeseburger, or gobble down a bunch of crispy crunchy salad vegetables. (never thought I'd say THAT either! LOL) But when putting food onto my own plate I've gotten very, very good at taking the smallest possible servings of things. And then after I eat, I'm constantly worrying in my head that I've eaten too much, that I'm ABLE to eat too much, that I'll never lose any more weight if I eat this much, etc. And then I remind myself that I only ate, for instance, one tablespoon of mashed potatoes, or something like that. It's weird how your brain processes this phenomenon. Mostly what I've read on LBT is from people saying that they are still ordering the Extra Large Value size of everything, even though they can only eat a small fraction of it. With me it's been the opposite. I automatically order or plate-up the smallest portion, but then have some sort of dysmorphic thing happen where I panic I've eaten too much. I think part of the problem is that I never really feel hungry anymore - and I also never really feel full. That is to say, I never get the feeling of full that I got pre-band.....which was a sickening, oh-my-God-all-I-want-to-do-is-unbutton-my-pants-and-lay-on-the-couch sort of feeling. I regularly ate up until I felt that way at dinner time, almost every night. Not so much at lunch, because I had more distractions from food during that time of day, I guess. I wouldn't say that I MISS that awful stuffed to the gills feeling.....but maybe psychologically I miss having a full belly feeling?? I don't know. And I can't really say that I have ever really recognized true stomach hunger - certainly not pre-band, bc I ate all the time. And not so much post band either. I don't know, maybe I'm just not skilled enough to recognize the feeling yet? So, without being able to discern those specific feelings - hungry vs. full - I think I have a tendency to panic and to STILL think that this surgery is not going to work for me after all (present evidence disregarded) and that I'll end up sabotaging myself, despite my best efforts, as I have always done in the past. I know I've got to work on that. In my ideal world, I wouldn't have to think about, worry about, panic about, plan endlessly for, or obsess over food a-n-y-m-o-r-e. I dream of a day when I can just live my life - and eat whenever it's appropriate to do so to feed my body. Period. I think I'm on my way. I'm amazed to no longer be compelled to nightly binge sessions in front of the TV. I'm incredulous that leftover cookies or bbq chips from weekend cookouts will stay in my pantry, unmolested for weeks. Pre-band, these foods would have literally called out to me over and over again, every time I was in my house, until I either devoured them, or in a fit of fortitude stoicly dumped them down into the gargage disposal so that they couldn't torture me any more. Now, I FORGET that they are even in there. Now, that's not to say that I don't still have a weakness for junk food, and believe me, if it's in a basket somewhere at a party, I'm definitely going to eat some of it. But I don't feel like it has a power over me anymore. That is really quite remarkable. This band certainly requires it's share of sacrifices, but so far, I'd say I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Thirty pounds, no longer weighing me down, gone forever. Amen!

I had my surgery on April 26, so I'm a newbie too, but I thought I'd give you my take. For me, cream of chicken soup would not have worked right out of the gate. I tried some homemade cream of mushroom around 6 days post-op, and it did not sit well with my stomach. For me, the things that have gone down easiest have been sugar free pudding, light Greek yogurt, and Protein shakes. If you still feel yuck today, maybe start with just liquids. As important as protein is, not getting dehydrated trumps it. Good luck! Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

well glad to hear about your surgery. i guess by now your feeling pretty ok. i had an awful first week with the hunger and stuff, and at times thought i had made a terrible choice, but i guess your mental state at that time is not to secure so i guess that's what i was going through. now i feel i am finally getting control of this new lifestyle. per my doctor, i should be consuming liquids (thinned soup-no chunks-i thin it with chicken broth since it gives it a little more flavor and i usually eat about 4 ounces; pudding; yogurt no fruit pieces, popsicles, protein water-kellogs is great just a little pricey; pudding and of course all these are sugar free. you even half to watch the sugar calories in these even though they say no sugar, they still may contain some; i also have had hot chocolate sugar free of course and use skim milk. the first week i didn't want to eat much (or drink i should say) so i lost 12 the first week. this week i guess i have lost my hunger appetite and still have to force myself to eat and drink. At times, i get hungry, but not very often. per my doc. you should be consuming water and protein water at least 48-64 ounces a day to ensure you don't get dehydrated and food wise 3-4 ounces at a time in good liquid. my doctor has me on a 500 calories 30g of protein for the first 3 weeks and then i go to pureed food like cottage cheese, applesauce, mashed tators and a little thicker consistency at 800 calories per day 80 grams for the next 3-6 weeks. this is my diet, i know everyone varies from doctor to doctor, so i guess you should follow your doc orders. what do they tell you to do? Are you loosing weight fast or slow? I go for my first fill Nov 11 and i hear this is pretty painless but well see. hope your doing well, don't know about you, but this has been a major milestone in my life. i only had about 60 pounds to lose (i am 5'7 235 at surgery and now 217) so not to far to go. I'll pray for you that you continue to do good and keep in touch. i would love to know how your progress goes.

I've gotten creative and have not minded it at all Chile - lean ground meat/beans/ pomi/ spices I do blend this and I don't mind it. I sometimes melt cheese on it for an extra treat (I try and stay within 35 grams of fat but sometimes i will go up to 60). I LOVE the lemon sole - I do use 1/2 tbspn butter and a lemon and pan fry i can live on this blended chicken is pretty gross i agree - i bought some Soup and added that into the soup so that it seems more like mashed soup. i have done it with vichysoisse soup and avgolemono fat free refried Beans, cheese melted and also flax seed meal (good for your hair). fage 0% yogurt and honey get lo fat ricotta - and mix some tomato or marinara sauce and melt mozzarella on it (this one i screwed up and got the skim version and its too much fat so I don't eat it too much).

Ok. I have a the 24 oz cup that I purchased from Starbucks. This morning I fixed me a smoothie(1 containergreek nonfat individual size,4 strawberries,1 scoop protein whey,ice and 2 oz leftover naked protein smoothie). It filled the cup almost to top. I started sipping at 650 and finished it at 950. Did I drink it to fast? I was able to get in 30 grams of protein from the yogurts and whey. I'm not hungry at all. I want to start drinking water but don't know if I should wait an hour before drinking anything else.

ice cream is a bad idea. you can do some things like lowfat yogurt and sherbet but i dont think i would do actual ice cream

I was head hungry too in the 2nd week. I went out and bought yummy flavored yogurts and coffeemates to put in my decaf coffee. When im craving something i sip on that cause out takes forever

I already feel like a short order cook. The 4 yr old hates anything that forces him to use silverware and the 18 month old only has 8 teeth. Lots of separate meals here. Your family will survive. There are lots of ways to have healthy simple meals. Breakfast for dinner is a fast favorite. Yogurt, fruit, eggs, whole wheat toast/pancakes. Fill the freezer with trader joes. You not eating with them is temporary. You said you are married, sounds like something your husband should worry about while you sit on the couch with a protein shake. Don't EVER be ashamed of your body. I am fat and still swim with my kids. Trust me, I have seen A LOT of people naked (RN); we are all a mess. Perfection only exists in airbrushed magazine covers.

Hi! So I'm excited yet so nervous I'm about to start the purée stage of my program. I received a week by week packet but it is very vague. I know a lot of it is a gamble because everyone is different, but I'm looking for suggestions on things and brands you may have tried during this period. On my list is said yogurt, puréed soup, scrambled eggs, and cottage cheese. Any advice anyone would like to share would be greatly appreciated!! ????????????

I was so glad to see this post because foods like yogurt and cottage cheese that I used to love taste off to me. I was wondering if this was normal. I'm still in the soft food phase so am still eating a lot of soup. I'm so curious to know why my tastebuds have turned against me.

Hey everyone I had the lapband removed and had the gastric sleeve done on August 6th. I am really feeling pretty good overall . My one thing is I am not sure if I am having gas pain or a hunger pain at this point in my recovery? I asked surgeon he said no but that is what it feels like. I have been on liquids for 3 weeks now and really want food, like a yogurt has anyone cheated and what was the consequence of doing that? The band never really worked for me so really hope this is my answer.

I Did clear liquids for a week after (really 5 days), then full liquids for a week, now I'm at soft and probably won't get the go ahead for more regular foods until at least my one month check up. I did have a lot of gas pain the first week or two. Now at three weeks and am just getting part of that hungry feeling back. Usually it is just my tummy telling me to drink more water! Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. Lol. Just realize that your stomach is probably swollen and tender and so you have to be kind to it. I think I had yogurt as part of my full liquid after a week though...