Search the Community

Hi! I am 3 weeks post operated and I am on muchy food. This is what the dr. given me... Soft Diet after Gastric Band Surgery {Non-veg} [2-4 weeks] General Principles 1.No liquids 15 minutes before & 1 hour after a meal. 2.A meal means 4-5 teaspoonful of food to be eaten slowly. 3.You may remain hungry after a meal but please wait for 20-30 minutes & then you should feel full/satiated. If you still remain hungry, then please contact us. 4.Average meal interval should be 4-6 hours. 5.Avoid sugars & use sugar substitute 6.Minimum oil to be consumed /day 7.No soft drinks [even diet ones] / Tea / coffee 8.Always eat Proteins first. 9.Eat siowly. 10. Daily walks 11.Water intake 2 litres Breakfast- Oatmeal/Wheat porridge in skimmed milk or Idli with sambhar (no oil), no coconut chutney or Tofu , preferably fat free or Egg white -[ scrambled, half boiled, poached] or Lassi made from skimmed milk , sugar substitute or Low fat paneer lunch - Khichdi /Semisolid dal / Minced fish or chicken , well- cooked vegetables and curd / low fat yogurt. Dinner-Veg Soup with dal / egg-white or Chicken soup You may interchange any of the above items at meals. In addition, you can have Skimmed milk-150 ml twice daily-not with meals Ensure Low fat yogurt /Curd [of skimmed milk or low fat milk] Papaya / melon / pear / stewed apple. I would like to compair with others as half of this foods I can't get here or eat. What are you aloud during the 3-4 weeks diet?? Does anyone have a meaurement how much to eat of Protein, vegetables, fruit, ensure a day?? I feel I am over eating... but at the same time I feel I need to eat to get enough protein a day. Has anybody get any feeling of fullness after eating. How do you know that you are full???? Or should one never feel full??? I would appreachiate any help... :help:

I am scheduled for 1 week liquid protein 4 times a day, 1 cup of veggies and 2 servings of milk or yogurt.

I had a very little fill yesterday .2 ccs. I thought I was already at 6 ccs, but the doctor said I was actually at 5.8. so now I am at 6. I am doing soft foods for today just to be safe. I lost 3.5 lbs in the past 2 weeks. I am now down 30 lbs!!!!! I have noticed that I am pretty tight in the morning and can not really eat anything solid. I started eating a few bites of yogurt when I wake up just to have food in the pouch and jump start my metabolism. Night eating is still the hardest part of my day. I get bored or something and want to munch. Any helpful ideas????? I do sugar free popsicles already. All in all I am really happy and pleased with the weight loss and the progress. My clothes fit better and my joints feel much better. I know I still have a long way to go, but I am on the right track at least and making head way. :thumbup: Oh and I have never had blood preasure issues, but when they took it yesterday it was 117/78. She said that was ideal!!!!! How cool. :smile2:

8:15 am - South Beach Protein bar, Coffee w/cream - 210 cal 11:00 - 7 almonds - 48 cal 12:00 - grilled chicken and green beans from Goldies Patio grill, mini candy bar - 405 cal 3:30 - non fat yogurt mixed with all bran cereal - 130 cal 6:30 - 1 oz cheese (sharp chedder), 1 cup of homemade turkey chili - 410 cal Total calories 1203 Exercise: Elliptical - 30 min Quads/thighs Hip Abductor - Inner - 3 sets - 1 @ 80bls, 2 @ 90lbs Outter - 3 sets - 1 @ 80 lbs, 1 @ 85 lbs, 1 @ 90 lbs. Leg Press - 3 sets - 55 lbs each set Bench step - 2 sets on each leg holding 5 lb dumbbells. Ball squats - 1 set of 10, holding for 10 seconds. Hamstrings/Glutes: Glute Machine - 2 sets @ 35 lbs (need to go up next time, easy with 35 lbs) Seated Let Curl - 2 sets @ 45 lbs Lying Leg Curl - 1 set @ 30 lbs Calves: Calve Machine - 3 sets - 1 @ 90 lbs, 2 @ 100 lbs Standing dumbbell calf raises - 2 sets holding 8 lbs dumbbells ABS: Laying hip raises - 2 sets @ 15 each Ab Crunch machine - 2 sets of 15 with 10 lbs weights Incline sit ups - 2 sets of 25 each Stretched - did not hop back on elliptical, I called it a night after 1 hr 40 min. Notes: I'm starting to see my body change, my DH told me last night my butt sure is smaller. :sneaky:. Still have not weighed, and excited to take my measurements to see how far I've come in 2 weeks! Today is my 21 year wedding anniversary, I wonder if I could fit into my wedding dress? I might try it on tonight to see.

8:15 am - South Beach Protein bar, Coffee w/cream - 210 cal 11:00 - 7 almonds - 48 cal 12:00 - grilled chicken and green beans from Goldies Patio grill, mini candy bar - 405 cal 3:30 - non fat yogurt mixed with all bran cereal - 130 cal 6:30 - 1 oz cheese (sharp chedder), 1 cup of homemade turkey chili - 410 cal Total calories 1203 Exercise: Elliptical - 30 min Quads/thighs Hip Abductor - Inner - 3 sets - 1 @ 80bls, 2 @ 90lbs Outter - 3 sets - 1 @ 80 lbs, 1 @ 85 lbs, 1 @ 90 lbs. Leg Press - 3 sets - 55 lbs each set Bench step - 2 sets on each leg holding 5 lb dumbbells. Ball squats - 1 set of 10, holding for 10 seconds. Hamstrings/Glutes: Glute Machine - 2 sets @ 35 lbs (need to go up next time, easy with 35 lbs) Seated Let Curl - 2 sets @ 45 lbs Lying Leg Curl - 1 set @ 30 lbs Calves: Calve Machine - 3 sets - 1 @ 90 lbs, 2 @ 100 lbs Standing dumbbell calf raises - 2 sets holding 8 lbs dumbbells ABS: Laying hip raises - 2 sets @ 15 each Ab Crunch machine - 2 sets of 15 with 10 lbs weights Incline sit ups - 2 sets of 25 each Stretched - did not hop back on elliptical, I called it a night after 1 hr 40 min. Notes: I'm starting to see my body change, my DH told me last night my butt sure is smaller. :tongue2:. Still have not weighed, and excited to take my measurements to see how far I've come in 2 weeks! Today is my 21 year wedding anniversary, I wonder if I could fit into my wedding dress? I might try it on tonight to see.

Hello everyone my name is Tina otherwise known as breakingtheshell. I really want to share my story with you I am so glad that I found this website. I am sure that there are many others out there with my situation maybe somebody can help me understand this because I asked my doctor my dietitian and they just seem to give me short answers and then there in a rush to get away I started out at 347 during my six-month counseling sessions and the day of my surgery I was 327 my surgery was on October 26, 2012. I wore a size 5x tops and bottoms or a 32/34 and my bra size funny funny was a 54 Double D. I never wore jeans after my disability which was a big contributor to becoming morbidly obese. Oh this is funny, I used to wear a size 13 wide shoe now I'm in a 12. How did that happen?? The surgery was extremely painful for me and it took a great five hours for them to poke and probe me and rearrange things rather then the simple 2.5 hours. My liver was extremely enlarged because I suffer from nonalcoholic liver disease so they needed to go in other places it was hard for them to lift my liver to work around it. I have been on the highest strengths of morphine for so long that when I got into the recovery room I felt all the pain and there was nothing else they could do for me so I stayed at the hospital for three days straight crying and begging for help to get rid of the pain.........I felt like I was butchered. By the way I was on pain medication for so long because I have severe back injuries I need to have a Nother three surgeries on my back I have fibromyalgia rheumatoid and osteoarthritis degenerative disc and joint disease spinal stenosis sciatica And everything else that causes pain. This is how I got started on my venturers for a gastric bypass surgery my back surgeon had to do another surgery on me but because I was so morbidly obese he refused to open me up on the operating table for fear that I would die. He told me I needed to lose over 100 pounds and in order to do that I had to go have the gastric bypass done so I quickly did my research checked my insurance and was approved quickly after six months of counseling. I lost a lot of weight I'm talking about 85 pounds by the end of my third month. I felt horrible I felt lethargic and spent most of my time in bed because I was so tired. My skin dried-up like you would not believe my face looked horrible like I had aged 10 to 15 years and I still with having pain in three months in my stomach area. Oh and the hair loss ......it's still coming out!! My six-month mark was on April 26, 2013. I had lost 122 pounds and my clothing sizes got to an extra large top a size 16 trying to wiggle into a 14 jeans and my shoe size went down and my bra size is now at 38b. When I look in the Mira I see a totally different person I look like a skinny person but I know that I need to lose at least 60 more pounds!! my husband says I should be grateful for what I have lost but darn it I didn't go this far to stop here but the problem is it STOPPED!!!! I understand that there are times that you will Platau but mine has lasted two months now losing only 9 stinkin pounds. I started solids a little late because of having Strictures and having to be dilated three times but I noticed that when I started eating solid foods my hunger started and I always feel hungry again an hour after a meal. I can only eat 1/4 to 1/2 cup of solids. I mentioned this to my doctor and that was hysterically crying and he says to me well that means your metabolism is working again that's a good thing and then got up and walked out!!! Wtf???? This is my life. This is my dream. I am doing everything by the book I am drinking my Protein I am actually drinking the whey protein bullet (with approval) which is nice because it's only 3 1/2 ounces to suck down to get your protein and I don't know what else to do. I cannot exercise because of my back injury. I'm going to be having surgery again rods and screws put in my back and I just don't know what else to do. I've kept logs, drink my liquids,snack on a little fruit or fat free sugar free yogurt. UGH CAN SOMEONE GIVE ME ADVICE ON HOW TO KICKSTART MY WEIGHTLOSS AGAIN????? I don't want to be skinny because I love curves. I'm not being selfish! Thanks in advance for your input. Tina

Eating has been good, exercise on the other hand, not so good. I don't know what in the world is my problem, just seems I have lost my mojo! I gotta get my mind right, make no more excuses and get my butt moving! Weighed in at weight watchers and lost another .8 lbs. Thats a total of 9.8 lbs since joing weight watchers. It has taken my 3 months to lose it, but hey, I'm losing right? I know its slow, but I'll take anything right now. My weight keeps bouncing around from 158 to 162, I wish it would dip down into the 150's and stay. Maybe if I would exercise it would! I really gotta get to the gym! Menu today: Bfast 1/4 cantelop (1 pt) 1 ww yogurt (1 pt) Dark chocolate (organic) - (2 pts) Lunch talapia, 3 oz (3 pts) Broccoli (steamed) 2/3 cup (1 pt) Snack few almonds, humus (4 pts) Dinner 3 oz grilled chicken - (3 pts) green beans - ( zero pts) WW sugar free ice cream bar (2 pts) Wt - AM - 161.1

Yay, I did it! I got my happy fat butt up and went to the gym at 5:00 am this morning and did my cardio. Per the BFL challenge, I am to do my cardio 3x's per week first thing in the morning. So, today was cardio day, I sure didn't want to get up, but I forced myself up and did it. Feels so good to have won this morning! I didn't let my evil twin talk me into staying in bed, lol. Usually I get this little voice in my head and that says "oh, come on, you don't have to get up, you can work out tonight". But this time, I just got up and did it. Yay! Menu today: Bfast cottage cheese mixed with yogurt Meal 2 hummus (2 TBSP) carrots/tomatoes Meal 3 Turkey meatloaf edamame beans Meal 4 peach string cheese Meal 5 Stuffed Bell Pepper Wt - Didnt weigh this morning.

My doctors advised me not to follow the stories on people who don't like their bands because it discourages you. And because we don't know the entire story regarding why they had issues with their band. I met one woman and she kept complaining how she never lost any weight and then when I asked her why, she said oh she couldn't get anything down except ice cream. I asked her why she didn't try yogurt, or cottage cheese, or jello, or other alternatives, and she just ignored me. So you don't know the real reason, and most ppl think that the weight is going to fall right off that they don't have to do anything. It's not true. No one should discourage you, you do this for yourself!

Congrats on your recent surgery. It is completely normal to feel hungry and want to "pig" out at this stage. Your stomach is healing and is not as swollen as it was in the beginning. Remember, you are in the beginning stages which are about healing the stomach and ensuring band placement. You have yet to get a fill and be restricted. You felt restricted before cause of the swelling and irritation to the stomach due to the surgery. Even though I don't think what you ate is considered pigging out - you must be careful not to overeat and expand your pouch at this point. You need the first 6 weeks to allow the stomach to heal and allow the band's placement site to heal too. Overeating can stretch the pouch and cause less restriction for you later on. If I recall correctly, you should be eating 2-4 oz per meal - try your hardest to stick to that. If you continued to feel hungry - wait as long as you can and then eat something like a sugar free jello, yogurt, a full liquid so it will go thru the band and not stretch it. Don't worry - you aren't alone in this stage. It is hard and you are doing fine. Do your best, that's all we can do. Good luck.:mad2:

So..the day after I posted this I purposely ate kinda different ..I wouldn't say crappy but not the usual eggs and yogurt..went to apple bees and orderd the salmon on the weight watchers menu...I also indulged in some spinich artichoke dip which I'm sure was loaded with fat..by some miracle when I weighed on Sunday morning I was down 4 pounds..I think I got my mojo back!

I did experience aversion to food. I wasn't nauseated, but just couldn't stand eating. At about the five week mark I found a couple of things that tasted okay. Then thing started improving and I can eat now. At my worst, yogurt seemed to go down without a problem. I also had peanut butter on Melba toast or 1/2 a toasted English muffin. I love milk, so that helped.

It sounds like things are going great. Its understandable that you would be nervous, you've had some traumatic experiences in the past. I have not been banded and pregnant but I have been pregnant and lost significant weight. On purpose, with the blessing of my doctor because I was 220 odd pounds when I conceived and I had had preeclampsia twice before. I did NOT want to pile on weight, although in the ironic way these things go, that is not the way my body tends to react to pregnancy. Statistically, gaining weight during pregnancy within normal limits is associated with a healthy pregnancy. That's only a statistic. As my doc pointed out for me, the baby needs nutrition, not fat. You need to take in adequate carbs, Protein, Vitamins and minerals, you do not necessarily need to take in a lot of extra calories and gain fat. You can gain the average weight during pregnancy by eating Big Mac's or ice cream and pickles or whatever(in fact most women do!) and you have not done one single thing to increase your odds of a healthy baby whereas you can eat perfectly, not gain weight and have done brilliant things for your baby. If you are sure you're eating the recommended intakes of various foods and you are supplementing well, dont let minor weight loss worry you, if its getting a bit out of control, supplement with somethign healthy like a fruit smoothie, made with some milk, some fruit, even a bit of cream or full fat yogurt. That packs in calories AND nutrition (I wouldnt turn to artificial foods like shakes at this time, if you want to go that way go for a weight gain supplement without all the artificial ingredients). If you really cant eat enough, the unfill a bit, you'll probably get tighter and need to eventually. good luck!

Hi Guys, I am about 7 weeks out from gastric bypass surgery and I have some questions regarding how much I should be able to eat. I have been cleared to eat normal food since week 4 and since then I have been sticking to three meals a day of high protein homemade meals like chili, tilapia baked in salsa, an egg baked in lentil stew, or chicken cooked in crushed tomatoes. I had my surgery in Mexico so my aftercare from my surgeon has been essentially nonexistent even when I called early on with some issues I was having. Additionally, my health insurance here will not cover any weight loss attempts whether it's surgical or non-surgical so I can't afford to see a bariatric surgeon or nutritionist so I am relying on you guy's experience to guide me in terms of what a normal volume of food is at 7 weeks post-op I weight out all of my food and food prep so I know exactly what and how much I am eating at any one time. I am worried that at 7 weeks post-op I can eat anywhere from 4 oz to 6 oz of dense protein mixed with a sauce at a time. This is almost always at dinner time. So my usual breakfast is one container of Siggi's yogurt which is 5.3 ounces. That usually takes me an hour to finish. I feel no restriction when I eat the yoghurt but I feel no need to eat until lunch after having it. My lunches are usually chilli or chicken in some sort of tomato sauce. There I can consume between 2 oz to 5 oz of food. How much I can handle before I feel full varies day to day. Now the biggest issue comes at dinner. I can and have in the last week eaten up to 6 ounces of dense protein and sauce in one sitting within 30 mins. Now usually there will be 4 oz of dense protein 1 ounce of beans or other vegetables and then the remaining ounces will be sauce. Now I make sure to not drink water 30 mins before, during, or after my meals so I know the issue isn't that. And I am eating dense protein like ground beef, fish, or chicken so I should feel more restriction. I read posts from other people and they talk about how they can barely handle 1 ounce of meat at 7 weeks out. But it seems I have an iron stomach. I haven't eaten a thing so far that bothers my stomach or gives me any pain. So I am wondering if the issue is the fact that I am eating my protein with sauce? I have tried dry chicken and even with that I could eat 3 oz at only 4 weeks out with few problems. This seems like way too much food. I know stews like chili are considered sliders but the fact that I can consume 3 oz of dry chicken seems like way too much. Maybe I should limit the amount of sauce I use with my food. Mind you I make my sauces from scratch using canned tomatoes or so I am not using high carb premade sauces. What thoughts do you guys have? What has your experience been? Is my capacity way out of line? Am I pushing things too far? I am really starting to worry that my surgeon may have made my pouch super big and that will hinder my weight loss. To date I have lost 27 pounds since surgery and 42 since my 2 week pre-op diet. Sorry if this super long post it's been weighing on my mind.

Yupp I got up and went to the gym this morning..then I purchased EAS Myoplex Lite and Im drinking that twice a day so I can get my Protein in..Im gonna have a turkey sandwich on wheat bread and a greek yogurt...stuff like dat...anything with protein is what I will be eating..so in 1 day ill be consuming 1000 calories and over 100g of protein...Im so excited to get back on track lol n Im proud of u for going back on track as well

Well, the weekend was a big bust for me. Not sure how many points I went over, but I know that I blew the WW plan on Saturday night. I was doing good until then. I was released from the doctor on Friday and I decided that Monday (today) I would start the BFL program again. I am going to modify it a little, but for the most part, I will stick to the plan. I set my alarm for 4:45 am to hit the gym, well, I almost didn't go, but finally I forced myself up and headed to the gym. I'm so glad I did! My menu today: Bfast - weight wise oatmeal, WW yogurt = 3 pts Snack a few pistachios - 2 pt Lunch Green salad with all kinds of vegies, and 3 oz of baked chicken breast - 3 pts Homemade salad dressing with EVO and lemon and vininger - 2 pts FF pudding - 2 pts Dinner 1 baked potatoe with lean ground beef and side salad - 5 pts WW dessert - 4 pts Exercise - :cursing: 35 min on elliptical 5:00 am 45 min with strength training UBWO - 11:30 am Wt - didn't weigh this morning, but will be weighed tonight at the WW meeting. Hopefully I'm down at least 1 lb!

I used to think "how am I ever going to get all this in". Here's my eating routine: 8oz coffee on my ride into work. Protein shake and turkey sausage patty when I get to work (or sugar free oatmeal, eggs, etc) at 9 am. 10 am I start Water in take. I drink 16 oz of water. Sometime between 11 and 12 I have a snack. usually a piece of turkey deli meat and a piece of cheese or greek yogurt, etc. Then more water. Around 2 or 3 I have my lunch. Then more water. Then at 4-ish I have a snack before I go work out at 5. During work out I drink water. When I get home I drink water. Then around 8 we eat dinner. So, yeah, it pretty much revolves around food and water.

Hi Everyone! I'm new here. Joined back in August 2015 after my initial consultation with my surgeon. My surgery date was November 23, 2015. Been lurking awhile, but this is my first post. All in all, I think I'm doing pretty well. I've lost 61lbs. I tolerate most foods well. I haven't experienced much nausea or vomiting (that only happened once thankfully!). I do have some concerns and I'm hoping the lovely people here can offer some tips. I feel like my life revolves around food now. I feel like I'm constantly eating all day to get my required Protein in (my doctor recommends 65-80 grams per day). Water is a whole other beast (64oz). It seems I just don't have the space for the volume of food and water necessary to meet these requirements. I know once we are able to eat solid foods, we should be getting most of our Proteins that way. I do okay maybe half the week and the other half I'm still using shakes to supplement. Should I not be doing that? I almost feel like Protein Shakes will be something that's part of my life forever, but there's a lot of people who disagree with that feeling. While I'm not vegan or vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, I CANNOT just eat meat and nothing else all day long. I eat veggies and dairy products as well. I don't eat much fruit due to the sugar content. If I have any at all it's blended in a shake or 1/2 a teaspoon is added to my Greek yogurt to take the tang out. To make matters all the more awesome, I was never a big water drinker. If I had 8 cups of water in a month, that was a lot. So to go from that to 8 cups PER DAY is really difficult for me. I get maybe half. My doctor is aware and it's something I'm working on. He'd like me to get it increased, and quickly at that. So. Any tips to ensure I get as much protein packed into a single meal WITHOUT using shakes? Or is it okay to supplement with them as long as I need to? Tips for water consumption would be awesome, too. Thanks for reading! Sorry if I rambled

Hi, I am 11 weeks out from surgery. I have lost 44 lbs However, I have not lost any weight in 2 weeks. Suggestions? I also find myself eating the same foods....lots of protien shakes and greek yogurt. Suggestions on what to eat? Thanks,

If you can find it....try SIGGI'S - it's an Icelandic yogurt and has the lowest sugar count I can find, it has a lot of protein, and it's delicious.

@@BobbyD - walmart also carries a greek yogurt in four packs that are 80 calories. Not as many varieties but I love the strawberry cheesecake! You can add Protein to bump up the content, but watch the sugars and calories as well. I was told to try to get single digit grams of sugar or under (1-9 grams) and double digit protein (10 or better)

God, Christie, I really needed to read this right now. I returned from Iraq almost 2 months ago and in that time have only lost about 10 pounds. I know people will jump on me for saying "only" but yeah, only! With this surgery and being in my first year (8 mos out), I get to say "only" because we all know it should be more! I have fallen off with attending this forum, fallen off with inputting to my diet tracker, my protein is way low. Yes I have finally crossed over the Great Two Hundred Divide, but only just. I haven't hit 100 lbs lost yet. I am surrounded by delicious food and these old feelings of inadequacy are coming back - I'm the fattest one in tango class, in zumba class, and the biggest size in regular stores still doesn't fit me right, but the smallest size in plus is too big. in the last 20 days I have lost maybe 3 pounds. I'm eating protein bullets, greek yogurt, sashimi (no rice), and baked chicken almost every day. I dance or zumba or something every day. And only a pound a week. =( =(

I went with pink, red, white beans earlier on simply because they were softer. I (my sleeve) still prefers them now. I'm 7.5 months post op I was around 250 at consultation, 238 surgery day, currently 170 Hidden sugars are everywhere so carefully read food labels (f-ing yogurt) I could only stomach the protein shakes in coffee (premier caramel) or tea (premier peaches and cream ) THE BEST HACK EVER I use myfitnesspal which accounts for all macros if you load it properly. Takes the guess work out of everything for me and I can generate a report for my NUT I'm still trying to find the ideal brand of vitamins too after I spilled an entire new jar of gummies while cleaning. I'm trying Walmart's organic vegetarian multi vitamins next.

Nope. You didn't hurt anything. Next time you want to try foods, stick with the next foods on your list. Try a little oatmeal or yogurt....leave the pecans for a while down the road:)

Cottage cheese, yogurt, beans, tofu, homemade soups, split pea soup. I'm two and a half weeks out, I eat rotisserie chicken in broth and soup cut up really fine. Plans differ so wildly... Just make sure you're eating enough calories, and getting your protein and fluid goals. All is well:) Be patient. I'm gonna have finely chopped up turkey, mashed taters and gravy at Christmas. I do a lot of smoothies and put some leafy greens and fruit in there (watch the sugar and calories)