Search the Community

So my nutritionist just ok'ed me for eggs cottage chees (ewwww) yogurt etc....any other ideas??? OMG i'm SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Does the soup i strain have to be low-fat creams or is reg fat ok?? ANY INFO will help!!! THANK YOU!! :D

I bring cheese sticks, diced chicken, a side salad, Greek yogurt, lots of bottled water, carrots and hummus, protein bars and a protein drink. I'm a nurse and I also work 7a-7p 3-4x's a week. I try to pack at least 3 meals and a few snacks when I go to work.

style="margin:0;padding:0;background-color:#d8dde8;color:#5a5a5a;font:normal 13px helvetica, arial, sans-serif;position:relative;"> Hey BariatricPal Members! How is winter treating you? Are you finding ways to stay active and developing your own healthy comfort food recipes? Or is the dreary weather getting you down a little? If it is, the newsletter can help! Here’s what you’ll find. Member Polls: What’s Your Opinion? Member Spotlight: Meet RJ’s/beginning! Super Bowl Sunday: Go for the Victory! After going through the newsletter, come on over to BariatricPal and get the spark back! Find out how others are staying motivated and what you can do to stay on track. Thanks for all of your support! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder, BariatricPal Member Polls: What’s Your Opinion? When you want to know what others are thinking, go to BariatricPal’s Member Poll Forums. It’s a place to check out other members’ thoughts and give your own opinion. There are always new polls coming out, and if you have an idea for a poll, just PM Alex Brecher. Here are a couple of hot ones this week. Some Encouragement for Beginners… If you’re even thinking about weight loss surgery, you’ve struggled with your weight for years. If you haven’t gotten surgery yet, why haven’t you? If you already had surgery, what was the last thing holding you back before you decided to go ahead with it? Your answer and explanation can help other BariatricPal members make their decisions. Give your answer here! One for the Ladies… Overweight or not, there’s something that almost every woman thinks about: her dress size. Sound like you? Are you driven to become a red carpet-reminiscent size 0 to match the Hollywood stars? Is a “normal weight” 6 to 10 more your style? Weigh in on our poll on “What’s Your Ideal Dress Size after Weight Loss Surgery!” Member Spotlight: Meet RJ’s/Beginning Our featured member for this newsletter is RJ’s/beginning from Dieppe, Nebraska. Her story is one of struggle, bravery, and determination. It’s also one of remarkable weight lost. Unlike many BariatricPal members, RJ remembers a time in childhood when she was not overweight. Her family was poor and did not have much to eat. Once her family situation stabilized and food was available, RJ began to gain weight as a teenager and throughout her adult life. Diets helped her lost weight many times, but she always gained it back and then some. Her weight ballooned up to a high of 381 pounds after falling in a bathtub eight years ago. The fall left her with a back injury and migraines, and she was barely functioning. RJ got a referral for the vertical sleeve gastrectomy in 2008, and waiting for four long years until she could get the surgery. RJ just celebrated her 2-year surgiversary, and is already at her goal weight of 170 pounds! She lost an amazing 211 pounds, which is well over half of her original body weight! Since surgery, RJ says her mobility has improved 100 percent, and she has only a few migraines. She can do the chores, play with her granddaughter, tie her shoes, shop ‘til she drops, and walk for hours. She no longer feels “doomed to a no life at all.” It’s been far from easy for RJ, though. As she says, “I am one of those 10% of patients who has endured extreme complications from the choice of weight loss surgery. I got a leak shortly after the surgery and went septic. I ended up in surgery and in an induced coma for nineteen days.” Doctors were finally able to get down her temperature of 104 and get her out of the coma. That, she says, was when the real work began. She had 14 procedures and surgeries, and ended up with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. She needed to learn how to walk, write, talk, and eat again. Five and a half months later, she left the hospital and went home under the care of family, a friend, and nurses. She’s still recovering from the ordeal, having developed a stage IV bed sore in the hospital. Because of her struggles and triumphs, RJ has been able to help others who have had complications with weight loss surgery, as well as those who are still considering it and are scared for their futures. She hopes to help them see that there is hope. RJ says she started using the BariatricPal forums for information, and the vets who reached out treated her kindly but firmly. She was touched by their sincerity in wanting to help her succeed. RJ may have started out using BariatricPal for get help, but now she’s one of the ones who helps others. She hit her 3000th post on BariatricPal a couple of weeks ago, and she also helps out the community by being a BariatricPal host. RJ remains optimistic because, she says, “Failing is not an option.” It’s worth the fight to maintain good health and chase happiness. She remembers a lesson she learned from a nurse: “One step at a time. This is your life now.” She doesn’t regret her decision to have bariatric surgery, saying she wouldn’t be the person she is today without it. She wouldn’t be as compassionate, and she’d be in a wheelchair. Her surgery gave her a new purpose in life. RJ, we’re grateful to you for sharing your story and for all that you do on. Congratulations on your weight loss success, and best of luck as you continue to recover from complications of surgery. It takes a special kind of person to go through so much and come out with the dedication to help others that you have. If you want to be in the newsletter or there´s another BariatricPal member you´d like to see in the spotlight, please let us know in the Member Spotlight Forum! You can also PM Alex Brecher if you´re shy about posting. We want to hear from you! Super Bowl Sunday: Go for the Victory! One of the best parts about weight loss surgery is getting your life back, but life includes the Super Bowl. As much as you may want to hide while the rest of the country is at a Super Bowl party, you can’t. The good news is that you don’t need to. You can use the Super Bowl as a healthy experience that makes you even more confident that you are a weight loss surgery success story. Practice Hard for the Big Day The countdown begins. As the big day approaches, the teams are practicing hard. You should be, too. Make it a point to get in your daily workout every day this week. You wouldn’t want to show up on Game Day and know you didn’t give it your all. Make these workouts fun, and challenge yourself a little. Find a buddy and toss a football…or find a wall, and toss a tennis ball. Run or walk obstacle courses with tires and ropes to test your agility, just like the players. Plan for the Attack The attack? You may not be a quarterback facing the entire defensive line, but you are going to be facing a roomful of high-calorie food and drinks. For every play the opposition could make on you, you need a strategy. While they sit and eat, you find something to keep your hands busy so you don’t munch mindlessly for the entire three-hour game. Play with the kids if there are any over at your house. Or, be the bet keeper for your friends and family and write down each play and how much keep track of how much you owe each other. Keep it strictly game-related, or include items of interest to the non-sports fans, like the number of red shirts shown during commercials. The more complicated you make it, the less likely you’ll be to overeat. You can predict the food disasters that are going to show up, so have a plan to counter those, too. If they serve beer, you drink Water. Put a lime in it if you want it to be more interesting. When they eat junk, you eat right. Forget the chicken wings, cupcakes, and snack mix. They’ll make you sick. Instead, go for weight loss surgery-friendly recipe makeovers. Raw veggies low-fat dip or hummus. Grilled chicken or shrimp skewers. Portabello or button mushrooms stuffed with ground turkey and Italian seasoning. Turkey bacon wrapped around fat-free cream cheese with sliced olives. Seven-layer dip with fat-free Beans, Greek yogurt, diced tomatoes and green onions, guacamole, olive slices, and fat-free cheese. Make what you can ahead of time or get up a few minutes earlier so you have time to get in a quick walk or another workout. It’ll make you feel more motivated to be strong today. During the game, be a good host or guest. Take people’s empty dishes into the kitchen to keep moving, and everyone will appreciate your generosity while you get in a few extra steps. Go on to Victory Gather your food, take a deep breath, and it’s show time! Stick to your eating plan, and get busy with something other than eating. Get through the game, and you’ll be proud of yourself. Your Super Bowl victory will give you confidence for the future. Maybe you’ll be inspired to set your own challenge, whether it’s walking a 5k this spring, getting back some of those high school football skills, or learning a new sport. We hope this newsletter helps you out on Super Bowl Sunday and, football fan or not, during the rest of the month. Have a great one, and see you on the boards!

Hi Toy - I am at the 3 week mark as well and am having problems. Scrambled eggs don't work for me, neither is the greek yogurt. I tried vegan chili but that was a big mistake. Last week I even went so far as to buy baby food! Thought Gerber spaghetti and meatballs might work - went down okay but came out the other end like thunder! Yesterday morning I had cream of wheat with Gerber bananas mixed in to make it very runny. It went down okay but I only got about 2-3 tbs in me. I had about the same this morning. I did try a small bite of chicken last night that was okay but my oldest ate the rest of the breast today so I had none to try tonight. I turned to tuna instead. I mushed it up well and added some plain yogurt. That went down well. I used maybe 1/4 of the can but at least it was something! My menu shows cottage cheese, puree fruit, puree Soup and puree veggies this week so there are a few things to try still. And of course I couldn't live without my sugar-free popsicles! :-) Oh, I also am trying the Special K Protein shakes which aren't bad. I thought the sight of another shake would make me barf but that isn't too bad. Of course it takes me an entire day of finish one....but half a day is better than nothing. I think at this point I am taking in less than 10 grams of protein a day so I am doing all I can to get more in. I bought the GNC flavorless Protein powder but it is tricky to incorporate with the few things I am eating thus far. Fortunately I am able to take larger sips of Water finally because I really missed that. I hope this helps. I know how frustrating this is. It's scary too because we KNOW we need the protein. My energy level was at it's lowest ever in my life on Friday. I went to bed at pm in tears, totally exhausted. I have heard that people do hit the "gotta have a nap daily" point around week 4 so at least I am ready for it. Keep smiling....we will get through this together! I hope to see my NUT this week and will share any tips he gives me. ~B~

Yes yogurt makes my tummy come ALIVE! But cheese is okay so far.

At 3 days out the focus is on getting in all the Protein and Fluid. Your nutritionist should have given you list of foods you can eat at this stage. I was on full liquids and could add a tsp of nut butter or pureed fruit to my yogurt.

Echoing what others said, I have hot tea first thing in the morning. I don't think I could eat real food within hours of waking up if I didn't. The hot tea feels like it opens me up, and allows me to swallow my meds that I can't get in chewable form (and hate the taste of crushed). I like to do greek yogurt for breakfast because it goes down easily. Good luck to you!

Long story short, I needed to lose 10 pounds in 10 days and ... I lost 12.5. My surgery date is set on January 16th. Thanks for all the emotional support and tips you guys shared. So-- for those nearing their weigh in appointment, I can share what I did, hopefully it would work out for you as well. 1. I bought a good old Rubbermaid pitcher with 64oz measurement on the side to force myself to drink it and used one packet crystal light for flavor. Drank this all say long at work (10 hours) . Drink Water to curb appetite! 2. I used Crystal light ENERGY ( with caffeine, coz I gave up my espresso, and can't deal with headaches) Got myself peach mango, grape, wild strawberry and citrus flavors to make it more appealing. 3. Breakfast :Greek yogurt small only 4. Lunch: Tofu mashed with 1 scrambled egg- looks like a pancake when cooked 5. Boiled egg for snack when I am hungry, upto 2 eggs/day. 6. dinner is I cup sautéed Brussels sprout. Or 1 bar zone double dark chocolate 7. I used costco premier Protein drink 30 grams protein) occasionally to substitute a meal. And when I am really really hungry around midnight. 8. Elliptical machine 30 mins & dancing wii (just dance) 30 mins everyday. I walk a lot at work and take stairs instead of elevator. Park far to force myself to work. Basically trying to burn calories if I can. 9. Dry sauna for 5 days before my appointment. 10. Looked at my calories, weighed everyday and logged what I ate at myfitnesspal app. Meeting the goal weight is too important for me to mess up on so I really forced myself to take it seriously. *So that's it! i just want to share -- take it or leave it Everyone's different so I wish us all good luck On our weight loss journey. Hope these tips will help you as well.

The only food I have had a problem with is apples. Water is my down fall only because I am addicted to coffee. I higly recommend a couple servings of fruit a day. Catelope is my go to. Sure you will exceed 60 carbs a day, but fruit is a complexed carb with lots of fiber. Make sure you know what a serving is, because its easy to go over on fruit. A great breakfast instead of a shake is about 5.5 oz of low cal flavored greek yogurt with either a 1/2 cup of bran or oatmeal. If you use oatmeal mix it in the night before. Its like candy but low cal, high in ficer and protein.

I find it hard to count being on full liquids. So I am just following what dietician gave me. Cream of wheat for breakfast with skim milk Yogurt and protein shake somewhere in between Dinner cream soup

Oh man oh man it hit me like a brick wall on Saturday. I've never been in that much intestinal pain in my life! My nutritionist had me do a yogurt smoothie a day for a few days and add lactose back in and so far so good.

I got sleeved on 6/6. The first week i lost 12 pounds, which brought me to 230 pounds. But since then i haven’t lost a pound. If anything, I’ve been yo-yo ing between 230-233. I started the purée diet yesterday. I’m still having the protein shake for breakfast, a drinkable yogurt for lunch and for dinner yesterday i had be ricotta bake and tonight i had purée refried beans with a little sour cream. And i couldn’t even finish my protein shake this morning or my dinner tonight. Am i doing something wrong? I don’t understand.

Liz sounds great. I went to Panera Bread with my granddaughter last week and I ended up getting cheese/broccoli Soup that was delicious and it came with a baguette but I didn't even bite it at all. for dinner I wasn't up for a big meal, made hubby something and I had a yogurt. Quite happy and never stuffed. it is liberating.

Great! I just mixed a "Tillamook Raspberry Light Yogurt" with vanilla protein powder called "Elite Gourmet" and a cup of water. It was smooth and very tasty. Not chalky like some of the pre-mixed shakes.

I am almost one year post op. I just got back from a Caribbean cruise where food was everywhere. I ate anything I wanted. It's a little bit difficult to eat much meat if you eat bread when the bread basket comes, when eating out. You have to pick and choose what to eat because your portion is going to be small. I don't have a problem with the changes in my eating habits. I take my kids to pizza once a week. I can eat one piece of pizza. I am very satisfied with that and I don't feel badly watching them polish off the rest of the pizza because I am full. I think it's more common than a small percentage of us that become lactose intollerant after the surgery. I can eat yogurt and cheese just fine, but drinking more than a few sips of milk gives me gas and diarrhea. If I haven't answered all your questions, just let me know. The changes in my life are so worth it. I love wearing cute clothes again and being able to do things that there is no way I could have done, without losing 100 lbs.

I was surprised too because I was not treated for diabetic before, my blood sugar was pretty high but I was not yet diabetic. As they told me everything they were doing to me I was...what wait (after have had a few shorts already) why do I need insulin? The nurse told me that my blood sugar was higher than usual because of anaesthesia. It was only the first night post-op only. Later they checked my blood sugar twice a day and it went down hill. The fifth day the doctor asked me to put sugar in my yogurt! Hehe

Hi tinatina. Your Drs in the USA (I'm assuming that's where you are from) seem to take things very slow. In Australia, I was on a purée diet from 3 days post op and can have yogurts, custards, purée casseroles. I'm only having about 10 teaspoons to a meal but I can't imagine still being on only shakes. One tip if you want to stick only to them - try blending them with ice. I found a cold frothy shake a nice alternative. If you want to bend a little, my current breakfast shake at 12 days post op is the protein shake powder with a banana and some berries, some yogurt and milk. And ice. Yummy! Makes enough for breakfast and morning tea! Have you tried a protein soup?? Good luck! Great advice Becca!!

The last couple days the board has given me a server error? Anyways, glad to have you guys back to talk to, LOL I just ordered the unjury sampler pack- some chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, chicken Soup and unflavored. What do you guys think of this protein- I like the thought of the unflavored to add to things to get more Protein in. I can't have soy stuff, this is whey.... Also, what ready to drink protein stuff do you drink? And what do you think of yogurt as a source of protein?

Acadia... Our nutritionists and surgeons give us the 60-80gm of Protein a day to protect our muscle mass. You're information is not accurate and you risk truly misleading someone. To the original poster... Try the Greek yogurt instead of protein powder, how about chili homemade with lean ground turkey and topped with lowfat ricotta cheese. Of course I highly recommend this only as a stop gap until you speak with your nutritionist. Keep your protein at a minimum of 60 gms as was recommended to you, else you risk compromising your metabolism by losing lean muscle mass. Get you Water up to about 96 ozs and that should help flush things out for you. I hope you are feeling better soon.

I've only lost 27-1/2 pounds since my pre-op diet.....and I've added crystal light to the greek yogurt, works well too just don't add too much

100% whey Protein , vanilla flavored (you buy it at @ Wal-mart) or you may order unjury on their website. I like the strawberry sorbet flavor. I'm more on the practical side so I buy the whey protein @ wal-mart because it is cheaper & you get more for your money & vanilla can be mixed with any fruit or flavor of yogurt. I LOVE to make Protein shakes out of yogurt. yum yum All the Best coltorismom

I am pretty tight in the morning so I have a Premier Protein drink every morning.. They are from Costco and they are 130 cals for 30 grams of protein. I am lazy to do the powders but I used the GNC in the post op phase. Greek yogurt is great for protein and works great as sour cream. I dont like the sweet ones.

Congratulations on ur 50 Pounds lost!! Can you believe it? You have lost 50 pounds in matter of ONLY 2 month!! You shouldnt be beating urself up now, you should be so proud and ecstatic. I am so sure your doctor will tell you the same. You say you FEEL like u put on some pounds? there is a big difference between feeling and knowing. Did u weight in and find the scale going up? If so it may be cause of different factors, like water consuming ( when it goes low) U actually put on some water retain weight, but not FAT weight. Also if ur period is around thats a huge factor, I can keep fluctuating around this time for 20 days!! But if you just FEEL heavy then it is just a feeling, dont rely on it. You feel like you have made the wrong decision with the sleeve, I Will tell you that with bypass the outcome in a matter of 2 month will be the same or just few (5-7) pounds different, think of the Pros of having being sleeved that bypassed. ( Not that I am against bypass) But I must have chosen getting sleeved for a reason and thats why I will always encourage sleeve over bypass. I am sure your doctor will help you with some guidline for this period, but I am sure if u are following the simple rules ( protien first + at leat 64 OZ of water) that u wont need any guide lines, The stepper is a real nice form of exercising, I have always heard it from ( Jillian Michaels) that working up the biggest group muscels which is in ur legs and thigh is a killer burning calorie form of exercise, SO YAY for u keep it up and as soon as u get the time to do something else change this routine cause your body get used to it easily. ( Unfortunately ) You dont have to snack on meat/chicken .. you can chose a handful of nuts which is a good source of good fats ( cashews/peanut) Also yogurt ( if u are low carbing there are many brands with low carb ) I choose to have fun with my snacks, I can have a skinny SF caramel macchiato from starbucks and sometimes if I am out I just head to any supermarket and grab a quick corn flakes ( kelloges) cup. Also I tried quiche and I had a bite or 2 of it. When I was on the road. Now u said it " u need to drink More water" Make sure if u are out that u are stuffing ur car or bag with small bottles to be accountable of how much u are consuming, and dont let the day fly by without consuming at least the least amount recommended. This is really a big key when it comes to stalls or putting on water weight. I love love veggies and I see no problem eating them, sometimes when I am in hurry in the morning I grab a cucumber and cover it with some cottage or just low fat white cheese and run my errands. I consume peas, okra, eggplant, green beans and I have no problem with them. But I make sure I got my protein fair and square:) I am no expert when it comes to vitamins, I just take my B-complex and B12. also GNC hair, nail and skin formula Vitamin, and biotin. The only chew-able vitamins I take are the calcium ( i have them in chocolate falvor from VicatIv) Over all I think u are doing just great, and you are only 2 month out think of it when u are 4 month out and have nearly reached 70-80 pounds lost overall, how fabulous this would be? U will be sooo much closer to ur goal. SO as a summary: 1- UP UR WATER ( make it ur job) 2- Protein first then veggies then carbs!! 3- have good form of fats in ur snack they help with ur metabolism 4- Change ur working out routine whenever u can to trick ur body 5- BE PROUD AND HAPPY WI?TH UR RESULTS AND DONT STRESS:) Best of luck:)

Maybe your bites of the yogurt are too large. Your so lucky to be able to have yogurt! I can't wait until it can. I found a thread with a bunch of people who had surgery on the 13th like us! I think it was under support. It's nice to read how everyone is doing at the same time! My husband brought me a drink at gnc called isogin (I think) it looks like Gatorade and has 40 grams of protein in it. I haven't tried it yet but I will start sipping on it tomorrow. I'm looking taking care of protein and liquids at the same time! Have a good night!

That's awesome that we had our surgery the same day.....I drink my Protein shake in the morning, I've been eating cottage cheese, tuna, yogurt, sometimes I'll eat as much of a high protein lean cuisine as I can. I was trying the protein Water, but it's awful. I don't know what else to do other than up my fluids, plus I get really cranky, but I think it's just because I'm really tired. I'm hoping my body just needs to adjust and that it happens soon. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App