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Wait, we can eat pasta? I thought that wasn't allowed. I am so confused on what to eat. Like I eat protien only....I never have room for anything else. Like dinner tonight I took 2 slices of lean turkey from the deli, mixed it with some plain greek yogurt, sprinkled some garlic powder, dried onions and some shredded cheese. It was decent...but that was it....a 1/3 of a cup pretty much. Breakfast was one scrambled egg and lunch was greek yogurt with protien powder mixed in....am I eating right? So confusing!!

My surgeon told me that I should start eating soft foods at this point. But, most of the time when I try something other than liquid (or yogurt, pudding, shake), it feels like there is a painful rock filling up my stomach. I had some french onion Soup which really just had pieces of boiled onion in it and a soggy crouton, but it hurt. I also tried thoroughly chewing a couple bites of toast. Same thing. I also have some nausea but haven't actually thrown up. So my question is whether this could be a stricture? Or is it just my stomach is particular sensitive and I need to let heal longer? Oddly, I've been able to eat some string cheese without a problem, but that's about it. So, I'm really hoping it's not a stricture.

You can have strained Greek yogurt under 100 calories Dannon lite and fit is 80. You mix it with the fruit on the bottom and I use a tea strainer and spoon the yougurt through and it keeps the small pieces of fruit out but you get to maintain the flavor. You can have sugar free pudding, sugar free jello, and the outshine fruit bars. Fat free milk with Nectar. Decafe coffee with nectar with fat free milk or fat free half and half. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

When I’m on the go I have chick fil a grilled nuggets with buffalo sauce, 8 mixed nuts, blackened chicken tenders from Popeyes, boiled egg with hot sauce, fruit cup, plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese with seasoning, steamed chicken and vegetables from a Chinese Carryout, slices of ham wrapped around a cheese stick, or mashed black beans with cheese. I usually have a cooler bag with me so I can save the leftovers. I also pack a protein water or shake. I haven’t started regular food yet.

Hey Justduckies, I was banded on the 1st and I saw my surgeon today. The reason for the liquid diet is because you stomach muscles don't have to work to digest it. It just passes right through to your intestines to be absorbed. Mushy and soft food, even chewed well, cause you stomach muscles to have to work. Since your band is still healing into place, you should try to make it as easy on your stomach as possible. I have been able to get most things (even meatloaf and mashed potatoes) thin and smooth (like cooked cream soup) when I blend them with liquid. When I can get the taste of the food, I don't feel so deprived. My doc has me on liquids for 3 weeks. I am so sick of yogurt smoothies and Protein shakes, but, the up side of the liquid diet is more rapid eight loss. Good luck!

Glad to be of help, Carol. Take a seat cushion with you to the meeting. That might help a little. I can't sit long in hard folding chairs, either. My legs and knees start hurting and I get "twitchy", but, like you said... get up now and then. Do what you need to to make it through it. You won't be sorry because you'll get lots of good info. Often they have people at those meetings who have had the surgery that will share a little about their experience. And you will have an opportunity to ask questions. I can understand why they want you to be there in person. It'll be okay. You can do it. I think it's also a test of your committment. Those three hours won't be the only discomfort you'll have to go through, but it will be worth it. I saw two different dieticians and they were both excellent. They had good suggestions for supplements to take after surgery, showed me what 1/2 cup serving looks like, had examples... empty containers... of acceptable foods...different kinds of yogurt, soups, etc to show me. It was very beneficial.

Carol Thanks for the props.... Here is a typical days food & exercise. BF - Dannon Lite & Fit Yogurt with 1/4 cup LF granola or 1/2 Cup Eggbeaters with a tad of cheese & ham or a weight control oatmeal (calories for bf 100 - 160 - Protein 6 - 12 g) Lunch- Ususally left overs - Veggie 1 - 2 cups & small can of tuna About once every 2 weeks go out to lunch and eat a Taco or el pollo loco chick & bean 1 corn tortilla (Calories lunch 200 to 250 - PT 15) Afternoon - Clear Protein Drink that my Doc Sells (calories 70 - 15 grms pt 15) Dinner - 4 oz baked catfish - 1/2 cup rice or small red bake potato 1 or 2 cup yellow crooked neck squash & zuchinne. or spinach (calories 320 - 400 - pt 25) Evening - 2 SF Choc puddings & 1 heathly Choice SF fudgecicle (calorie 200 to 300 - pt 7) Exercise - 5 day a week go to gym - walk minimum 2 miles - am now doing a 16 min mile - started at 22 min mile goal is 15 min mile - may do 3 miles on one day and on saturday mornings i strive for 3 or 4 miles and once in a while do a little work on the weights - but mostly just the walking... Those calories are not exact nor is the menu - I figure i eat about 1000 to 1200 calories a day and get minium 60 grms of protein. I mostly use I can't believe it's not butter spray on my veggies & rice and some times a tad or real butter and olive oil to bake my fish - I eat fish 5-6 days a week red meat once a week- I count calories and protein and diary all my food in a little notebook that i carry. Prior to this last fill - i was usually eating 2 cup of food per meal - excluding breakfast.. I got my 2nd fill on 10/24 and will start the whole banding diet over - 1 week full liquids - 1 week mushies - 1 week soft - 4th week back to reg food. Carol - I am working hard at this and i am hungry at times -- it's a mental challenge to change your eating habits. If i am extra hungry at nite - i eat extra veggies - may have lite toast & butter along with 1/2 cup o.j. (lite) - I dislike exercise very much - but i know that it is a MUST to help you loose weight- I am an Senior Account Manager for a large insurance agency here in the Desert - I have a desk job - and am a former couch potato.... I am divorced - my 16 gs lives with me - I don't keep things in the house that i like to eat (no candy - chip - cakes and I use to eat alot of fried type foods with tons of butter) and very large portions - ususal only cook what i am going to eat that night and if there are left overs put them up right away - I am lucky that my grandson eats things i don't like so i don't have any temptations from him.... That's my day.... Food is no longer the center of my universe....

Yea, I tried to google it and it said to douche with pure yogurt with no sugar added with live bacteria.

I believe the key to long-term success is self-honesty, a realistic understanding of the procedure, especially the recovery process, and the strengths and limitations of the surgery. The surgery is most effective long-term with patients who had trouble with portion control and between-meal (and after dinner) hunger pains. The surgery is less effective in helping compulsive eaters, what forum members refer to as "grazers" or perpetual "snackers," i.e., those who are driven to eat frequently out of boredom or the sheer taste of it, people who can't pass the kitchen without popping a cookie or a handful of potato chips into their mouths. Related to grazing is the problem of emotional eating, that is, eating to self-medicate anxiety, depression, and frustration. The problem here is that you can very easily continue that type of problematic eating behavior shortly after the surgery. Before the surgery, try to honestly reflect on what kind of problem eater you are. If you are an emotional or compulsive eater, then you should be in some sort of psychotherapy before the surgery to start dealing with these issues. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) often produces the most efficacious short-term results but a good psychodynamically-oriented treatment will more likely help you mourn your old relationship with food and help you to understand the complicated symbolic meanings of food in your life. Both personally and professionally, I don't believe in abstinence, i.e., deliberately avoiding foods that you enjoy or substituting foods low in calories for preferred high-calorie foods. If you feel like eating Ben and Jerry's New York chocolate Chuck ice cream, then learn to eat two to three ounces of it instead of eight or 16 ounces. If you can't do that, then substituting eight ounces of Dannon's low-fat yogurt is not an effective strategy. If you can't exercise moderation then it is better to deal with this problem directly in treatment than to try and work around it with food substitutions. Over the long haul, who here has ever successfully satisfied the urge to eat potato chips with a handful of carrot sticks? An essential part of the moderation approach is food tracking or monitoring. In consultation with your nutritionist or surgeon, agree to a daily calorie goal and stick to it using a program like My Fitness Pal or Fitocracy. Track everything that goes into your mouth and you are far more likely to reach goal and keep the weight off. Those who fail to reach goal and regain significant amounts of weight are, almost entirely, not tracking their food intake.

I think u r suppose to go off total carbs. It sounds like we are both at a stall. I eat yoplait greek yogurt. Their vanilla flavor is really good and it doesnt have that greek yogurt taste. I don't know off hand the carbs but it's super low. I know it's less than chobani. How r u feeling? I'm taking my Vitamins but I'm feeling super tired still. I don't want to do anything.

I am kind of in this stage too. I have restriction for the first time since I got my band in october 2008. It is very difficult to know how much to eat. I am very tight in the morning. So I usually can only get down 1/2 a yogurt. Then the afternoon is better. 1/2 cup of food at lunch. I just got my fill on monday, so if it gets any tighter I may have to have some removed. Hope we all get this thing figured out. The hardest thing for me is to slow down, at dinner. By the time dinner comes I am starving.

MiniMandy_ be careful with what you eat..while healing if you "try out" foods and your swelling isnt down it will catch up with you..you need to stay on liguids and soft mush for awhile..believe me its not easy but its neccessary...i ate potatoe soup one day thinking id be fine but within hours i was hurting. it irritates your stomach. and when i started more harder foods this week its still hard to do..i kinda had to start over lots of liquids and maybe one solid a day now..but my solid is like chili or mash potatoes that are watery..i live off of yogurt and protien drinks..I LVOE THE EQUATES from walmart! the chocolat rocks! or i blend a banana with the vanilla one! YUMMY! Take care and be careful!

I had thrush/yeast on my tongue. I had been sick right before surgery and on antibiotics, then had antibiotics in my IV and post op also. I ate a lot of yogurt drank those little Dan Activ liquid yogurts and took probiotics. It went away over a wk or two. Depending on your symptoms, you may have to have meds for it.

First day on pureed today...made some ground turkey chili....needless to say was not ravenous all day today. In fact, I had the chili twice today (6-8 tsp each time) and less than a 1/4 cup of lowfat yogurt sweetened with xylitol. That's all I had to eat all day. Not bad at all. I'm the happiest (and least starving) I've been in weeks lol.

I'm eating mostly yogurt and cottage cheese since I barfed on tuna (1/4 cup blenderized with nayo). I figured an extra week on semi-liquids wouldn't hurt. I eat 1/4-1/2 cup cottage cheese. Well, at the begining of the week 1/4 cup was all I could do but now I can do 1/2 if its liquidy. Ive also been doing 6 oz cup of greek yogurt 0%. That goes down very easy. I tried a 1/2 cup of lentil soup with 1oz of goat cheese. It went down fine but just didnt float my boat taste wise (mostly water). Hummus goes down fine but gives me heartburn. I need some help menu wise to start getting in more fiber. I am on mushies/soft foods until my next appointment.

I feel your pain Sleepyjean. I too am having a hard time getting all my water in. Stomach pain caused by hunger is also a new concept to me. I woke up hungry this morning and got a few sips of yogurt down then I was "full". I took a nap and woke up and had a few tablespoons of soup. This went down much easier. I told my husband today that if I'm restricted like this all the time I won't need a fill! I know I'm probably still swollen from surgery, it was only 5 days ago. It's definatley new to learn what all these signs and signals from my tummy mean. Good news though! I slept in my bed last night with no problem! I was even able to lay on both sides!

Greek yogurt , lf cottage cheese.and I think tuna is in your mushi diet along with cream of chicken soup

I was banded on 9/5.......most helpful things - ice packs, heating pads, gas x strips, papaya enzymes, milk of magnesia, genie bras, hand blender, magic bullet, soups on the go, Greek yogurt, isopure zero carb protein drinks, gummie multivitamins and fiber, water, biotin drops...........most importantly - a great support system to encourage you on the rough days!

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.

EEK! I'm glad you are getting the sore throat thing taken care off! Don't wanna be sick on surgery day! I'll bet those boys keep you hopping! Its great that your parents can help you out with them and they get to spend quality time with them to boot! The pre-surgery diet is Glucerna (diabetic weight loss shakes), sugar free jello, sugar/fat free pudding and yogurt and broths.. I bought several flavors of the Isopure Zero Carb drinks for after surgery. Haven't tasted them yet, have you? I also ordered some of the Unjury Protein online. I tasted the chocolate.. its pretty good...

Years ago I kept having reoccuring yeast infections. The Dr. said that my husband and I kept giving it to each other....so he treated us both and it worked! He also told me to douche with plain yogurt mixed into warm Water. Haven't had an infection in ages. Hope this info is not too out-dated!!!

Hi everyone! I'm three weeks out and have been really enjoying watermelon! Since I'm still on mushies, I make a protein shake each morning with protein powder, nf plain Greek yogurt, frozen fruit (berries, bananas, peaches, whatever) and fresh spinach or kale and sometimes carrots. It's delicious! I can never finish the whole serving so I save the rest for my afternoon 'boost'.

Hi Sleepyjean, I packed on all this extra weight and sustained it through eating about two meals a day. I used to actually shock myself at how much I could put away at a sitting. I am also finding "hunger" painful. I usually have an ache in behind my breastbone around six in the morning that drives me to the fridge for a few sips of yogurt so I can go back to sleep for an hour or two. Unfortunately, I have over-eaten once or twice as well and the feeling is very similar to that of hunger. It will definately be a challenge to learn our bodies "new" signs, especially since we didn't do all that well listening to the "old" ones. I think I am trying to eat the same way banded. I will sit down and drink 8-16 oz of water in about 10 minutes. I don't get up unitl I am done. I do the same thing with my protein shake. I can get one in in about 5 minutes (that's 8 oz nf milk + 1oz of whey protein powder). I don't feel like I have much swelling from my surgery on Monday because I have been able to do this since Tuesday. I think if I could only do a few sips at a time, it would drive me nuts. One thing I do do is I keep my water in a lg. 32 oz container. My goal is to drink 1.5 or 48 oz daily. I made it to 40 yesterday. Today I havn't even gotten to 8 yet.--OK, I just did 8 oz. Well, that's my update for the day. I am really tired today. My son had an 8 am soccer game and I was afraid to have a protein drink before the game because what I drink usually goes through me pretty quickly and his soccer field was the farthest from the lovely out-houses today. Not getting my morning protein in seems to have made a huge difference in my energy level - even though I had one when I got home at 11 am, I still crashed and slept for a couple of hours and still feel kind of out-of-it. What is everyone else doing to get yourseves "going" in the morning?

Hi Leigha! Thanks so much for responding to my post. True, I'm actually very happy for not only having lost but kept off 55lbs. The working out part I've not been big on. That's what I want to work on now that I have a sense of control with the eating part. And I think you're doing a fabulous job! Even if you have to repeat week 8 the fact that you're not throwing in the towel says a lot! That's awesome! Congrats to all you ladies that have kept it up and especially for posting too! I love reading everyone's stories. You can learn so much. The bit about eating yogurt before a run is great! I've always wondered if I should or should not eat a lil' something before working out. I do, however, drink a Protein shake after my work outs. I've been told that it's good for your muscles particularly after a work out. Have an awesome day today people! :eek:

Ya I have some powders from Nector that I really like, they are 28g then with the Greek yogurt it bumps it up to 40g or more. I usually just add a little water or you could do skim milk too. I use a variety of the frozen fruits. They work for me!