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Hi all, Just wanted to update, I am 11 days out and feeling really good. I have some port pain but it is just "uncomfortable" I haven't even felt a need for tylenol. Still on liquids, I am starting to feel hungry. I have been eating soup, water, yogurt and protein drinks. According to the the doc it will be another week before I can go to solid foods. I am feeling ready but I understand the implications if I don't adhere to the instructions. My clothes are getting big and friends are starting to notice that I have lost some weight. When I think about losing the 20+ lbs that I have already lost, I see 2 10lb bags of potatoes and realize that is a lot of mass to lose.... very cool.

I was sooooooo bad yesterday!!! I always tend to overdo it when I'm sick and (lucky me) I have strep and a sinus infection. So, I was already dealing with the munchies. Yesterday I took my son for ice cream. I ordered the fat free sugar free yogurt and the machine wasn't working...so I decided to have a regular chocolate cone. (my first bad) Then about an hour later, I'm at my parents for Father's Day and I see that they have the tastykake peanut butter candy cakes. I ate it! (my second bad!) Then after dinner I had a rice krispies treat! (my third bad) I was obviously have a "gimme something sweet" attack. Turns out that my "monthly friend" showed up this morning. I suppose that would explain the cravings. Yesterday was a bad, bad day!!!! LOL!!

wow... the time is drawing near....I'm 5 days away. I'm going shopping today for my post op list. For the 1st two days after surgery I can have liquids only: Water, propel or Fruit 2 0 coffe/tea broth sugar free Jello diet v8 splash or v8 sugar free posicles & fudgesicles minute maid light lowfat milk or soy milk drinkable yogurt low carb Protein shakes I have to avoid juice (high sugar) soda diet soda or anything carbonated. it's really not good for your body. Day 3 after surgery and after fill adjustments I can have soft foods in 1/2 cup meals Low fat yogurt cottage cheese (yuck) applesauce oatmeal sugar free pudding Soups scrambled eggs Beans chicken salad egg salad tuna salad pimento cheese cooked vegetables low fat casseroles ground meats with gravy or broth flaky fish I go back three week from surgery to get my 1st fill/adjustment and he said leading right up to that my appetite will return to almost normal.. this is where the greatness of the adjustable band comes in. If I get flu tummy sick and start throwing up they will get me in to take all fo the Fluid out of the band. When I'm better, they put it back in. Same thing if you get pregnant. There is no malapsorption with this procedure. I am very excited. I'm sure I'll be a wreck monday night and tuesday a.m.

For me a lot of tuna/ham/chicken/seafood salad, cottage/ricotta cheese, blended turkey chili, blended veggies and fruits, refried Beans, eggs, and yogurt. I found I really like that canned chicken. With mayo or ranch, with chic gravy, with ricotta and red sauce. I'm ready for "real" food again.

I doubt I *could* keep it without Luvox. So yes, I know that as long as I want to keep my band I have to take the drug and I want to keep my band. Life is sooo much easier with it when it comes to food issues. The first six months was really horrible. My problem hadn't been diagnosed at that time and I was miserable. Everyone here had to hear about it. Daily. I just hated the band and hated everything about it. I just had to be really careful to make good food choices. Instead of milkshakes I drank Protein shakes made with Water (I still do that, I prefer it though). Instead of crunchy things like chips and Cookies I ate veggie chips. Vegetables that are baked until they are dry and crunchy. Here they are: J&D Fine Foods | Nuts By The Pound | Dried Fruit By The Pound | Candy By The Pound | Gift Baskets | Wholesale Bulk Nuts I couldn't eat any fresh fruit so instead of Mickey D's yogurt with fruit I ate dried fruit (see above link). But then the problem was diagnosed and finally we tried Luvox and now I'm very close to a normal banded person. I still can't tolerate normal person fills but I've learned to deal with it. It was easy to get the bad stuff down but the good stuff made me barf non stop. There were times I'd barf 30+ times weekly so I had to learn what I could eat and I made sure it wasn't crap food. I'm still shocked that my band didn't slip. I've told my doc that he had to have used glue, cement, epoxy, sutures, staples, and paper clips to keep it in place. I decided at the time that I wasn't going through all that to stay fat so I dropped my calories down to 600 and I've pretty much kept it there since I was banded. Not my doc's ideal diet but I wanted this chapter closed for good and I wanted it done quickly. He prefers 800 calories daily and with good restriction, it's totally doable. But I cut out all white carbs so with Protein intake, I honestly wasn't (and am not) hungry much. It's the white carbs that are a killer to us. It messes with your blood sugar and causes blood sugar spikes. That's part of the chain that causes hunger. No blood sugar spikes and you have very little hunger. Exercise... oh yeah! Tons of exercise. People used to laugh at me because if they called I'd jump on the treadmill and do power walking while chatting. It made the time fly by. If I wasn't on the phone I was watching DVDs with my head phones on and running. I was running about five miles daily. Now I walk and/or run for about a total of five+ miles daily. I'm just now getting the nerve to run outside in front of actual people but I wait until 11:30PM to do it. Of course then there was naked guy the other night but that's another story. For the most part I was doing 60-120 minutes of cardio daily, at least half of it was hard cardio. I did buy a Bowflex but I still don't quite know what to do with it so I haven't really started using that yet. Clearly my way isn't for everyone. Each person has to find what works for them and do that. If you are losing weight and it's not too fast and not too slow, if you are getting your nutrition in, if you are healthy, and if you and your doc are happy then whatever way you choose is the right way. The one thing that kept me going was that I created my infamous goal. I've talked to death about it here but my goal has always been to get banded, lose weight, and have plastic surgery within a year. My band was 12/6/06, I am at goal, and plastic surgery is scheduled for 12/3/07. All in a year. I'd try to find a goal that really seriously means something to you. Something that matters a great deal for you and work towards that goal. I also did things for myself at various milestones. I started out morbidly obese so when I was only "seriously" obese I think I bought a bunch of cool stuff for my computer. Then when I was just "obese" I went to see a banded friend out of state, when I was just "fat" I had my hair completely redone at a fancy salon. Come up with mini goals for yourself and do something that you honestly enjoy as a reward. Something you will sincerely look forward to and it is worth working a little harder so you can have that "thing" you want. Otherwise you end up feeling like every single day is a chore to lose weight. Instead of focusing on that, you can focus on the cool goal you have in mind. It made a huge difference for me. Sorry, this turned into a book, I didn't mean for that to happen but to be honest, it happens a lot. One thread many of us enjoyed was this one, lots of fun ideas for food variety: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f9/cheaper-than-bariatriceating-com-33990/?highlight=Cheaper+than+bariatriceating.com Hope this helps!

I've been stuck a couple times, mostly about a month after surgery. About day four after my third or fourth fill, I got a piece of chicken stuck, I was talking and forgot to chew well. I PB'd once, I had a blackberry stuck and after a few minutes and a tast of pineapple juice, up it came. Yogurt I have to eat slowly or else it back up a little and I gurgle. Lately, I've had no problem getting almost anything down! I defintely need a fill!

I think that snacking is an effective way to do it. In the past my meal plans have been a schedule of meals like: Breakfast at 7 (cereal, oatmeal) 150 cal Snack at 10 (yogurt or apple) 100 cal Lunch at noon (salad, protein) 200 cal Snack at 3 (popcorn or apple) 100 cal Dinner at 6 (protein and veggies) 300 cal Dessert at 7 (WW dessert) 140 cal Eating like this is supposed to boost your metabolism. However, I havne't been able to do this since the lapband. I try to stick to 3 meals but can't do breakfast or morning snack anymore.

Kmwwmk... unfortunately I think you're just gonna have to suffer it out. I doubt there's a way to get it to digest any faster. Maybe sip water or hot tea? I think this happened because you're eating too fast. I've had yogurt and felt like I was going to explode after 6 oz and it was because I didn't eat it slow enough to give my body time to tell me STOP! I hope you feel better soon.

i feel awful for posting that i was depressed now. i realize that i am really blessed in my life right now. i have a beautiful son, a good job, and a husband that loves and cares for me deeply. money is a little tight right now, because of me and dh missing work for my surgery, but we will make it. we always do. i have been sick and missed work a lot the past year (probably 2 months total), i'm happy now that my pains and migraines have allowed me not to miss much work with the exception of time off for my surgery..and my son was sick. thank you all for your responses. i am happy to report, that my energy level has increased substantially, and i'm not feeling so gloomy anymore. i think it is due to exercise, as i have gone consecutively for the past 3 days (that's HUGE for me). i'm still fighting head hunger, and i eat no sugar added fudgsicle's and 100 calorie carrot cakes occasionally. i've gotten away from yogurt as much. i'm having trouble finding low calorie high Protein foods, any advice? my typically daily menu is 2 turkey sausages, or 1/4 cup egg substitute, for lunch i have 6 pieces ham lunchmeat with one slice of cheese, and for dinner i have meatloaf and broccoli. according to my calculation's that is only about 36 grams of protein. i'm not supposed to drink Protein shakes anymore. thank you all, i will pray for those of us who are facing this battle, be it with weight loss, or personal affairs. we will get through this, we just have to lean on one another and keep faith. there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hey all .. I see some familiar names in here! Please disregard this post if you see it on another fourm I am 6 weeks out and I have some questions on food phases. I was advised to stay on full liquids for 3 weeks, which I did pretty much without a hitch (hard to believe, but I did it.) Now I'm halfway through my soft foods stage .. I haven't been perfect, but I am doing very well with Carnation Instant Breakfast, scrambled eggs, SF yogurt, tuna, baked fish, etc. I am getting in all of my Protein and most of my Water. My question's this. I don't have a problem eating soft foods for the remaining two weeks, but I am not really losing weight either. In fact, I gained 2.5 lb back when I got on soft foods (I have since realized where I was making my mistakes and tweaked my intake). I have the determination to follow my doctors' advice, but they are very extremely pro-RNY and I feel that my dietary instructions may be more for RNY patients. In fact, the guidelines they provided have a heading that reads "Dietary Requirements for Gastric Bypass." I complained about that, but we will see if they fix it. I have been waiting 30 minutes after eating to drink my water. Is that long enough? Also, could/should I be introducing more solid food to my diet, at 6 weeks out, so that I can maximize my restriction? I don't want to harm anything. Nobody at my doctors' office seems to make any distinction between RNY and Band procedures. I don't think they are making the effort. I didn't get the Inamed booklet or anything Band-related from them. Any advice would be appreciated. Jeanie

Audra, to answer your question about the pre op diet... NO it is going horrible. I have this killer headache and nothing i do is helping. i am on liquids with protien drinks 2 a day and up to 3 yogurts or cottage cheese per day. i think once the headache goes i will be ok. the hardest part i am dealing with is my doc said "just try you best it is ok if you slip once in a while." that does not help me stay faithful to the diet at all. oh well i am sure i will make it. just counting the days till surgery, i am actually starting to think it will be easier then this diet is. how is everything going for you? Jen

Try blending the skim milk, some ice cubes and a carnation instant breakfast,and some decaf instant coffee mix makes a good smoothie. The cream soups can be really filling too. Try freezing the yogurt then put it in a blender, just like soft serve. I lived on propel it's a sugar free gatorade, it really helped keep my mind off food. I was only allowed sugar free liquids, and 1 6 oz of sugar free yogurt, and 2 protein shakes a day. I was not allowed the cream soups, or the carnation breakfast. I was not allowed any dairy other than the yogurt. Also make the soup with the skim milk, it makes it richer and makes it more filling. I am in Romeoville, if you want to talk on the phone let me know and I will PM you my number. ~Mandy

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, all! I started my pre-op diet today (daily: 2 Protein shakes, 1 bowl of Soup, 1 yogurt, 1/2 cup cottage cheese and unlimited sugar-free jello) and I am STARVING. And cranky, too! I'm glad that my dr. doesn't require me to give up caffeine, though--I don't think I could take that on top of how I'm feeling right now. Those of you who have already started the pre-op diet: this does get better, right?

I am not a surgeon but that seems like a lot to me. I have a 32F and at 5 weeks I can hold 2 - 3 oz. 2 oz for me is the rule but some real soft foods I can hold 3 oz (like pudding or yogurt). Maybe you should talk to him about a smaller size? Ask what size he is using and why. It is your body, you have a right to ask. I seem to remember that it is difficult to revise again once you have been sleeved because the staples can't be found after healing has taken place. Seriously, this might be your only chance. Be cautious even if it means a delay in surgery. Just my humble opinion.

Greek yogurt, 1 Banana, 1/4 blueberries, 1/2 cup skim milk and unjury vanilla powder thrown into the magic bullet. Lots of protein as I was short yesterday trying to get it all in today. s of protein.

I'm a bit more advanced and off soft foods but I just went camping myself (I had a cooler). I took chicken sausage to cook over the fire to sub for hotdogs since they are still too greasy for me and hurt once they go down. They have some great pre-cooked varieties at Wegmans (if you have that store in your area). We have also done foil wraps over a grate on the camp fire. Just loosely wrap some chicken (or whatever you want) and veggies and put them over the fire and let them steam up. They can get pretty soft that way. Just make sure to double wrap them in foil so they don't burn. I froze some greek yogurts and put them in the cooler for Breakfast and/or Snacks. They kept everything else cold for me as they thawed. I also did Peanut Butter and apples. I just chewed the apples really well into that applesauce consistency. The peanut butter gave me some Protein and helped me stay full. I also brought some chicken salad. Just ate it with a fork for lunches.

mdg, my doctor saves the yogurt and cottage cheese until 2wks after your surgery. but every doctor is dfferent. bigGirlpantiez, I see a successful surgery in your future and i see the same beautiful person you are now just thinner. I know you will do great since i'm already banded i can't wait to play big sis to all the newly banded. LOL Timetoloveme, I also think some of the weight may come back but i'm going to try my hardest to keep eating right so that all of it doesn't come back. i'm 5'3 and was 265 the day of my surgery. this morning i weighed in at 249.5. I'm so excited to see it come off. I don't remember the last time i ever so a scale go down except for when those electric ones run low on batteries.

I add mine to my Greek yogurt to get extra protein which equals about 15gms with 2oz yogurt and half scoop protein powder. Plus it is really good with some raspberries or bananas added

I'm 3 weeks post op and for the past 3 days I have been so nauseous and throwing up at least once a day. My doctor advice Pepdid AC and nausea meds. He thinks it's acid reflux that is causing my nausea. I feel horrible! I am so weak. I am able to drink Water all day and I can eat light foods like Jello and yogurt but I can't do proteinuria shakes. I just want to feel normal again!!! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using the BariatricPal App

I have trouble with the protein shakes as well. I bought the unflavored protein isolate (I like the isopure unflavored whey protein isolate) from Amazon. For 1 scoop, you get 25 g protein. You can add it to anything. Yogurt, soup, smoothie, cottage cheese... I sometimes make my own shake with 1 scoop protein, 8 Oz either skim, coconut, or almond milk, a little vanilla extract, a tsp cocoa, sweetener, and a couple ice cubes... Have to wait a few minutes for the foam to settle it, but the protein powder has no flavor or aftertaste. That is my go to rescue to get the protein in when I'm struggling.

Choose any one scale, if its at home put it in exactly the same space every time. If I move mine to the other side of my bathroom I gain 7lbs. Is the dietician the one your surgeon uses ? and is this the surgeons advice to you ? 150 grams of protein is not a lot pre surgery. Eating protein will make you feel fuller while keeping calories low. I imagine you need to keep the Carbs low. Can you add what you protein count is usually like, it will help us help you Are you vegetarian or vegan? There are so many protein options out there now. Find some protein yogurts that you can eat or add extra protein to your milk and yogurt. Dhal is great for protein, add extra yogurt and seeds to top it.

I get your frustration. I gained 5 lbs after Christmas and it just wasn't coming off. Last week I graduated off of Hint water and can now drink any water however I did change my diet. I know this is going to sound weird but it worked for me and I'll be 67 in a few weeks. I eat high protein, no sugar, sweetened with erythritol yogurt then my coffee with a small amount of sweetened flavored creamer and whipping cream. Lunch is usually a protein bar and a cheese stick. Protein bar is sweetened with the erythrirol.. Then the snacking begins - I make jello cubes out of unflavored beef gelatin, monk sugar and allulose, unsweetened kool aid and water. I make it thick and cut into 1/2" cubes. Place a hefty serving into a baggy and I can eat as many as I want. I snack from 3 til 8 on jello cubes, not non stop but maybe 3 baggies worth. I too was hungry all the time until I started eating the jello cubes. IDK why it works but in 5 days I lost 6 lbs. I pee non stop but that's ok with me. My jello cubes are about 35 calories a baggy but it's all protein and if you take a tryptophan with it it becomes a complete protein plus its tons of collagen. I've lost a lot of hair the past 6 weeks so trying to fight that. My surgery was 8/14 and so far I've lost 91 pounds (lost 45 before my surgery). I need new knees something awful so highly motivated. 17 lbs to go. I did join the gym 2 weeks ago in preparation for the new knees. Gotta get these old legs strong again. I hope things break for you soon.

I appreciate you responding and your suggestions. I don't know about beef jello..I have texture eating issues. Is it just like regular jello? My day goes like this: Breakfast: Coffee w/heavy cream (1 tsp), my multivitamin chew, 1 calcium chew, .5 mg taurine, 2.8 grams magnesium glutamate, 2 tsp collagen protein w/hyaluronic acid all in my coffee, 1 pro/prebiotic 3 strips turkey bacon at 30 calories each and one egg or 2 egg white egg bites with 1/2 teaspoon red pepper Lunch: 1/2 cup turkey chili w/mushrooms and teaspoon G. Hughs chili Thai dipping sauce (no sugar 5 calories 2 carbs) with 1 tablespoon Fage Greek yogurt or Atkins protein bar. Dinner: Fairlife Core Elite protein drink (42 grams) or above chili 1/2 cup or 3oz chicken breast w/broccoli florets - 2 IF I have a snack: its .5 cup fair life chocolate elite core creami protein ice cream 10+- protein grams. This is all I eat for a max of 800 calories. I lost 21lbs before surgery (started diet before surgery May 29th) and lost 50lbs since surgery on August 21 to today. I just don't understand why I've only lost 21 lbs in three months and only 3.8lbs this last month.

You seem to like and tolerate dairy products; if you're not tolerating meat maybe consider adding something like yogurt? How do you feel about eggs?