Search the Community

My surgeon had me on soft food after 7 days too, and any texture at 6 weeks as long as it is low sugar high Protein (except: no skins on fruit like apples). Understand your surgeon's recommendations clearly. But being allowed to eat something is not the same thing as being comfortable eating something. Just progress as your sleeve allows, within the rules that your surgeon gave you. Once I was allowed soft foods, I did not always eat them - some days just protein shakes and yogurt, especially at first. I am still supposed to have 2 protein shakes a day, so I do. I know other people's NUT teams say no shakes so just follow your team's orders. My surgeon defined soft food as anything that I can cut easily with a fork, so under his rules I was encouraged to eat fish, stewed chicken, ground turkey, cottage cheese, yogurt (especially Greek), eggs, fat free retried Beans. I used my slow cooker and made lots of stews and soups: fish chowder, black bean Soup, Tuscan white bean soup with garlic (yum!), chicken curry not too hot, chili with ground turkey, spaghetti sauce with turkey meatballs but no actual spaghetti. All delish! Also baked or grilled fish. But baked/grilled chicken was too dry for my sleeve - even now if I try it I need a sauce for it. Ground beef or pork were sometimes okay with great caution - harder to digest and can be very fatty if you are not careful about what meat you cook and how you cook it. I went for turkey sausage (including turkey Italian sausage) instead and have avoided beef and pork. I was disappointed that I do to do well with eggs - I made a low fat quiche and The Sleeve did not like it. Ditto for scrambled or fried eggs, and hard boiled eggs were not much better so I think eggs are off the menu for a while for me. There are some great websites with menu ideas - like "bariatriceating" and "the world according to egg face" and 7 Bites Jen's terrific YouTube cooking classes! Proceed very slowly and follow YOUR doctor's rules. But don't be afraid to go back to liquids as required - good luck!

I am four weeks our and haven't lost a pound for a week. I thought I was eating too much...morning 30g protein drink 1/2, snack fat free yogurt half, lots of water, lunch 1 egg with peruvian beans 2 tbs, snack protein drink, snack 2 tbs hummus and low fat cottage cheese w 1 sesame cracker, 1 fat free pudding, dinner 1/8 chicken breast w rice our beans less than 1/4 cup...popsicle sugarfree st might...water throughout day w crystal lite. I stay up late full time student/mommy off 1 year old. Help

I was sleeved on July 2nd and still don't eat much solid food...it hurts. I'm okay with that, though. I stick to yogurt, peaches, oatmeal, and tomato or chicken noodle soup. Every once in a while I take a bite of something esle, and if it hurts, I stop. I feel great though and have lost 63lbs so I see no need to eat food that causes pain. I do miss food too, but I look in the mirror and remind myself that this was the right decision!!! The other day I really wanted some doritos, so I chewed it up and spit it out instead of swallowing. Got the yummy taste without the pain. Sounds gross, I know, but it satisfied my craving. Hang in there!!!! Just because we are "allowed" to have certain foods, doesn't mean they're going to work for us so don't push it and make yourself sick. Take good care of yourself and keep us posted on how you're doing.

Wow! Soft food already. At this point people usually only drink broths Protein Drinks and juices. Mushy foods start in week three. Like yogurt and cottage cheese, fruit, eggs, Jello and pudding, or anything you can blend up or mash to a smooth consistency. Then 2 weeks later starting solids. This is a slow process because of your new sleeve. It needs to heal and no longer be swollen. It takes time and at this stage you could be harming it and could cause a complication. I would back off if I were you and give your sleeve a chance to heal. Believe me you don't want complications like a leak!...K

Wow, only 20 pounds doesn't sound possible if you are carefully following the instructions from your surgeon. You should be eating so much less now that your stomach is so much smaller. That alone should have meant weight loss of more than 20 pounds. I know everyone is different, but if you stuck strictly to the healthy eating and eating habits prescribed by your doctor or bariatric program, I would think you'd be experiencing more weight loss. You should check with your doctor. Something doesn't seem right. Have you included exercise since your surgery? What are you eating on a daily basis and in what portions? Definitely food log if you are having issues with eating. See what quantities and portions your eating on a daily basis and adjust where necessary. I was sleeved August 27 and I've lost about 75 pounds so far. I have a Protein shake and Chobani 100 greek yogurt for Breakfast, the only about a 1/2 cup of food for lunch (because that's about all that will fit without making me feel very uncomfortable). I eat a half cup of cottage cheese or have a meat and cheese stick roll-up of dinner. I would estimate that my calorie intake per day is right around, or just less than, 1000 calories...mostly protein. Are you also taking Vitamins?

At this point, most doctors want us focused on liquids and Protein, in that order. Carbs aren't important. Of course, follow your doctor's guidance if it's different from that, but since you're asking, I suppose he or she hasn't specified. Are you tracking your protein so you know how much you're getting? I use myfitnesspal.com so that I know for sure I'm getting enough protein. Your doctor's recommendation takes precedence, of course, but most of us are being told something along the line of 60-70 grams of protein a day. I know what you mean about the menu being a bit boring at the moment I try to at least change up the flavor a bit, even if I'm stuck with regard to texture (I'm still on full liquids, so cream Soups, Protein shakes, yogurt seem to rule my day). For example, my protein-enhanced cream of chicken Soup just got a bit of a Mexican spin with a little bit of seasoning. I adjusted my vanilla Protein shake this afternoon with a little bit of SF Torani Hazelnut syrup and some coffee. Haven't decided what dinner looks like, yet, but I still need about 20 grams of protein today, so I guess it will include Protein powder of some sort... If the cottage cheese and applesauce aren't working now, maybe give them a go again in a week - some things take a little longer for our tummies to accept.

I start with a Protein shake. 2cups tea lunch varies: Egg or Hummus Or Leftover dinner meat Cold cut roast beef Etc 2 cups tea Greek yogurt 2 cups tea 2bottles Water Dinner: Meat or meat or meat I would not be able to drink 3 shakes per day in addition to the food, too many extra cals! I keep reading on here about people eating 500-600 (NEVER more than 800) calories per day! I can't seem to get mine that low! I cut out nuts and cheese to lower it it, but still nowhere near 500-600 cals!

Ditto to dorrie robles. Don't add frozen yogurt to your shakes. There are so many other items you can add that make it healthier and low fat. For instance, SF flavored syrup (like what they add in coffee shops but make sure you get the SF) or SF jello packets - yes, that's right, they add flavor for you w/o adding too many calories. The frozen yogurt just adds calories is why I said what I did.

I've had lowfat cream cheese, about a tablespoon, and other low fat dairy products with no problem. I had gastric bypass. You could also substitute non fat plain Greek yogurt. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I use the Bariactive brand I had to stop the chewables because my palette wasn't having it ,so I switched to the ones you swallow .On the calcium I have to cut it and morter and pestle it up and put it in a yogurt just because they are to big for me to swallow right now, the multivitamin I also put in yougurt as well its in capsule for .As for my B12 it comes in a nasal spray and I do gummy biotin and b-complex.

Hi there, that feeling of "What have I done?" is common, as is the fear that it's not going to work. I failed at so many diets over the years and worried that I'd be the one person who failed at LapBand. I'm very grateful that when I was in the research stage and newly-banded there was not the flood of negative information out there as I probably would have been deterred and still fighting my weight problems. Those people do go on (and on) -- many are unwilling to change eating patterns like fast food, etc. and it's important not to have the band too tight -- the links below in my signature helped me understand this. The Lapband is Not About Restriction and the Eight Golden Rules. Honestly, I read that Simpson piece over and over to get it through my big fat head. Restriction is a word we use with regard to the amount of fill but it's misleading. There are things that surprised me about what my body prefers and tolerates now. I was pretty sure I'd be eating scrambled eggs as I've always loved those. Well, they don't work well for me now but a fried egg -- something I never liked -- is kind of perfect for me. I need to be able to chew. My test for myself is salmon and broccoli. I need to be able to eat those foods (Slowly, oh that's still hard for me to remember sometimes but the band reminds me). Dense protein well-chewed is where it's at. I use chicken thighs for the most part or pound the chicken (I like those organic tenders) so it's not too fibrous. For burger i sauté it with stock over time so it's not stringy. These are just my personal tendencies. And I splurge on tenderloin or filet mignon when we go out. I don't eat rice or bread, etc., although my husband is gluten-free and I do have a few rice crackers with cheeses, etc. I thought I'd have to give up cheese -- worried that I might come out of surgery lactose intolerant or something -- but I really love cheese and I haven't really had to "give up" anything. It's important for me not to have sliders. Yogurt is a slider for me so I add chia seeds, a little GF cereal, a few nuts, etc. To give myself something to really chew. It's the chewing that signals the brain for satiety. So for me the cheese needs a cracker or some celery or something to chew. Last night I was on the way to a performance and suddenly needed food. Ducked into a market for a cheese stick and a small bag of unsalted almonds and a square of chocolate. Had about half of each. Full. No desire to go on and on, which is what I always did before. I am able to stop. No more appetite monster to appease! Good luck. You're going to do great! Pay attention to your pants and how they loosen rather than the scale. It will all happen!

I finally have some restriction!!!!!! I went for my fill today and I now have 12.5cc in my 14cc band. My dr did it under floro and at first put in 1cc then I drank the stuff and it flew down, so he put another 2cc in. I have eaten really light today (yogurt, and mushie type stuff), but I think I feel tight. It feels almost like a knot in my stomach, but its in the upper part of my stomach. Is that what tightness feels like? Hopefully this will knock my numbers off the scale. My dh had his first fill today too, he had 2cc put in during surgery, and the dr said that he could only put in 3cc today, because the fluid was getting stuck. It's crazy the fluctuation in fills, I can't believe its taking me 12.5cc to feel anything!!!

I never puréed or blended, except shakes. I made good low fat chili, no lumps whatsoever, and we sipped it at five weeks out. Soups, bisque, no crust quiche, eggs, small curd cottage cheese, yogurts, and I made a lot of low fat soups myself. We made sure we took exceptionally small bites, and enjoyed the flavors.

Update: Friday 11/16. The beachball size adomen is not a basketball LOL. I slept more last night and I'm able to walk around better today. I drank 1/2 a protein shake that I made (chocolate) drank water and "slow move tea". Dear God I hope that tea works! Called the Hospital today to ask if it was "ok" that I didn't have a movement since last Friday! Dr. said he was not worried and that I could take something over the counter. Well I have none of that in my house, so I used the tea. As far as being hungry - I think what I am feeling is hunger. I mean I am hungry! Anyone else? I'm feeling deprived right now. I would kill to be able to eat a piece of chicken and salad. Or a yogurt. Anyway, I stuck my finger in peanut butter and put just a tiny pit in my mouth and let it melt to nothing and followed it with a sip of water. What the heck. Maybe once the scale goes down I will feel better about all of this. What a whinebag I feel like. Got to get my head back in the game. Egg drop soup sounds good! When could you eat that?

As you all know I was sleeved last Monday 11/12 and as of today I am feeling so much better. I am only down 5lbs since surgery date though. I did have a BM over the weekend and now my intestines are all messed up - not to be gross but I go a little bit all day long - loose. Anyone else like this? As far as eating goes, I can eat creamed soups, yogurt and pudding but I don't know if I'm eating too fast or too much cuz I am not comfortable eating it. i think I am finally gettingin 30oz of h20. I'm not making protein shakes because I am sick of them at the moment. I am able to take my chewable Bariatric Fusion vitamins - 4 per day and that is going well. I also see the surgeon tomorrow. Oh and my incisions are itchy as all hell - anyone else having this little problem. I want to scratch but I can't

I wish I could have food. I can only have applesauce and pudding as "food" as I can't have creamy soups or yogurt... bad dairy problems now HW - 230 SW - 215 CW- 201 GW - 130 Height 5'5"

fish-tuna salad, salmon, tilapia, etc.. chicken-all different ways beef-I can actually still eat burger and steak (chew, chew, chew) beans- pintos, black quinoa cheese yogurt (greek, tons of protien)

I agree with the above post, but my preop diet was 2 weeks. I had a protein shake for breakfast with 4 oz fruit, for lunch I had a lite and fit yogurt and an ounce of nuts, mid afternoon another shake with fruit, dinner 4oz protein, 4oz veggies and 1/2 cup of startch (only good startch, nothing white) before bed I could have another protein shake without fruit. Hope this helps, I lost 10 lbs in two weeks prior to surgery.

I about starved my first month after surgery. I cheated and added mashed potatoes after 3 weeks (I don't advise going against drs orders tho!). I was hungry (true hunger, not head hunger) within 48 hrs of surgery. I misread my post op directions - thought it said Clear liquids and Protein shakes for 4 weeks. After about a year, I re read it and it said full liquids (to include cream Soups, yogurt, pudding). I added tomato Soup myself after the first 2 weeks of literally starving. Come to find out, I wasn't even cheating - and I could've added yogurt and pudding! I ate 1 can of it a day - split into 4 meals. Plus crystal lite, popsicles, Jello, and chicken broth. My first real food was mashed potatoes, about 3 weeks in (yes, I went a week early) (and again, I don't advise going against your drs orders!) So yes, you will be hungry. And you will continue to be hungry the rest of your life. I still get hungry, I just get full a lot quicker. Good luck! Marci

Bandster, I KNOW!! So many things you've posted on here I relate to!!! Thanks for the kudos on the weight loss, but I feel I have to focus on what's ahead of me and not rest of my (haha) laurels. I think you hit upon something with the eating things more substantial during the day -- because I feel like I'm hungry all the time, but the last time I got a fill, he had to take some out because it was too tight. Last visit he wouldn't even give me a fill, so I think he's leary about getting me too tight again. I go see him 6/5, so it will be interesting to see if he gives me a fill. I'm tight in the morning, so I usually drink a cup of tea to loosen things up. I can eat more than I'm used to eating, however, later in the day. I think my biggest problem is I am still struggling with what are the best foods to eat and what will give me the best weight loss for the calories! And I must confess, I LOVE LOVE LOVE skim milk and would live on it if I could. I find myself getting lazy at night and just fixing an instant breakfast for dinner. Maybe I'm having too many dairy products...I must confess I love the cheese, milk, cottage cheese and yogurt... :tongue:

My liquids include yogurt, ricotta, and cottage cheese. Today, my family ordered Chinese and I ate the filling of two crab rangoons, which I rationalized because it's the same texture as ricotta. :smile: I also had hot and sour soup, but only the broth, so that's not cheating!

Breakfast: Special K Protein meal bar. (10 g of protein, YAY) Lunch: Usually 1/4 C of refried Beans topped w/ a little cheddar cheese Dinner: cottage cheese or yogurt Snack: 2T of Peanut Butter or 1/4 C of nuts and I drink Water all day. I'm allowed chicken, turkey, or fish but I've dumped on all meats that I've tried so far.

Hello, I had my band placed in 2007 so its been a while :-). I had a complete unfill last June because I was pregnant and having a lot of trouble with it and lost 14lbs in the beginning of my pregnancy. My total weight loss since 2007 is 35lbs. (not good at all)... I think I may have been too tight before because I was not able to eat anything. (no veggies or meat) I was very very bad and lived on things that would easily go through the band. I FINALLY had a fill yesterday of 4ccs. (I had 5ccs when I had the unfill.) I am ready to do this right this time. It has been so long since I started this journey and I have forgotten how everything feels. I met with the dietician yesterday and she told me that I should be full for at least 4 hours after a meal. I was on full liquids for 24 hours and then test the waters with what I could eat today. This morning I was still on liquids so I had a Protein shake, yogurt smoothie, Water, and some coffee. I had about 4oz of tuna with a little mayo at 3:00PM and by 5:30 I was starving! I am so afraid of getting stuck or eating too much! Do I need to give it time to tighten up more? or does it already sound like I need another fill? Thanks! Leslie

I know what you mean. I work at the hospital where I'm being banded on August 20. I have seen great results from the folks that had 3 weeks of liquid diet pre-op. One gent lost 33 lbs in that time. Had lunch with him and his wife (he was banded a month ago, she was banded last week). She had yogurt. He had tuna salad and some chopped veggies. Both seem to be doing quite well. He took a week off work. She is taking 2 weeks. She did not do the liquid pre-diet, but I can see the 8 lb difference in her already. Seriously.

Some ideas I wrote on one of my other replies which could relate to your comment about savory flavors and begining your muchies. I feel pretty good, my husband has been on me about not doing to much, so we have been going school shopping and getting a lot of walking in. I also have been trying to say busy in the house without lifting more than 10lbs. I only loss 15 pounds on my prediet and after surgery. My dr and nutrionist said I should ot complain because I loss 34 pounds in 3 months on Aug 22nd. On the 20th, I start mushies and bought a lot of stuff to eat to make the transition easier. I want to know if your puree stage has only 3 puree meals without snack and are you suppose to have 2oz of Protein. Here are some things I bought: 97% fat free turkey chili with Beans, 97% fat free veggie chilli with beans, very high in protein and very low in fat. 1%, which I was told to top it off is cold greek vanilla yogurt to simulate sour cream, bought refried beans raw kidney, raw black eye peas, raw lentel and raw black beans to make a Soup with chicken thighs, cabbage and carrots so I can blend it together with low sodium bouillion cubes because it was hard to find low fat or fat free Soups without rice, potatos or Pasta, so I will make my own. I also wanted to get the cream of wheat and cream of rice and it was so expensive and I can only have a little, so I bought the same thing with low carb, etc in baby wheat and rice cerials which was much cheaper than 1 12pack cream of wheat. I also bought 3 different stage 3 veggies and chicken and turkey meat in a jar that looks like vienna sausages but is turkey and chicken, so when I am lazy to cook. Maybe above can give you some ideas.