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Today finally got here, my first fill. I was quite proud of myself, no fears, ready to do it! Doc and I discussed my hunger, weight loss over the past month, and decided to go for the fill. NOw, my doc is known for his aggressiveness so I kept that in mind, I knew he would not deny me the fill, because I was truly hungry, throughout the day! He numbed the area, he had me give him a crunch, my port was placed under my sternum, so the crunch position helped him locate the port. I didnt feel a thing! He placed 2cc then he had my swing my legs around the table, sit-up he gave me water to drink.....it went down very good, so he put another cc in....I drank, it went down good......so another cc, drank again, no problem.....he went for .7 of a cc., that did it. I drank, it went down very slowly, some restriction, no pain. He was happy with that, so I have 4.7 cc in my 10cc band. I was told to have yogurt today, then move over to soft foods, then solids. He informed me that the fill could last 1wk-2wks or we could actually hit my sweet spot "green zone". I feel pretty good, some restriction, yogurt is going down great, but most of all I am feeling full, so I think we are in the right direction. Now, the journey does begin, good choices of foods, eating slowly (that is a difficult one for me), correct portions and exercise. Again, I am so excited. Getting hungry these past weeks was getting hard to handle, so I am glad to be at the next step. I will keep you posted on my first fill adventure, let's hope we get more that 2 weeks of feeling full. Patti with a smile:thumbup:

Sweet Baby it will be a challenge, my doctor requires either 5 cans of high protein slim fast or 3-4 cans and 4-6 choices of unsweetened applesauce, sugar free fat free pudding and low sugar fat free yogurt. So.meals for me and my birthday is Friday.

I am 8 days post-op and have had a very uneventful time. Except for the 5 small incisions on my stomach, and a copy of my leak test x-ray, I feel so darn good, I can't believe my body went thru all that it has. February 3rd: After arriving at the Florence Hospital after a nice ride from the airport with a friendly driver named Carlos I met Trish and Dr Kelly. I immediately felt at ease meeting these two. No time was wasted in prepping me for surgery. I had blood work, IV port inserted, blood pressure, temp taken, medical history. Then the cardiologist came in to ask a few questions and give me an ECG. Shortly after, around 5:30, I was wheeled down to the OR, where I saw Dr Kelly, the anesthesiologist, and the scrub nurse. Dr Kelly came over, held my hand and asked me if I was ready. I said "I am so ready for this". He warned me of the anesthetic going in and that is all I remember until I woke up in my room trying to pull the oxygen mask off my face. My mom was with me and I am so thankful. She had a full size bed to sleep in in my room and we had a private bath with shower. Also a TV on the wall with about 4 english speaking channels. She was able to eat 3 meals a day in the Oasis of Hope dining room. It is for the alternative cancer patients and their families and everything there was very healthy. No sugar, lots of veggies and fruit, very little meat and a couple of fruit/veggie juices available per day. The surgery went well with no complications. I was up walking around @ about 4 am Friday morning. The worst part for me was the IV pole and the nurses coming in several times in the night. I was nauseous a couple of times but only threw up once. Feb 4th: Spent the next day and evening sipping on ice and water, walking around, napping, getting regular doses of pain meds, anti nausea meds and antibiotics and chatting with my family on Skype and Facebook. <br style="text-indent: 0px !important; "><br style="text-indent: 0px !important; ">Feb 5th: The morning of my discharge, before I got discharged, my mom and I went for a walk down to the beach. It is only about 3 blocks from the Florence hospital. We put our feet in the ocean and it was awesome. They removed my drainage tube (weird feeling and little painful) and IV port just before they took me for my leak test Saturday around 11 am at the Angeles Hospital. The taste is gross. Have gum or breath strips handy and a water to pop in your mouth after you are done. That will help tremendously. Then we got checked in to the Lucerna. My mom and I walked down to the Rio del Plaza and shopped for about 3 hours. I bought some bandaids @ the Gusher Farmacia @ the Plaza. They are Nexcare in a green and white box. They are 50mm x 101 mm and there are 10 in a box. You will want to change your dressing and these are a good size but they gave me a horrible irritation. They are adhesive all around. You may want to get some Mepore dressings (available at our Walmart behind the pharmacy counter) and bring them with you. I purchased them before I went but never thought to bring them with me and really wish I would have had them. They are a nice soft gauze with adhesive all around but not irritation. Anyway, we had to take a cab back to our hotel because we had too many packages. LOL! Met up with Trish the moment we got out of the cab at the hotel, and she had my discharge package for me. She introduced me to some yummy chicken broth powder available at the Costco here. Try to get a hold of some. It is called MAGGI and it is sort of like OXO but has way more flavour. It is very tasty. So I asked if she could pick some up for me and I would pay her. She said she would just take us there, so we went to Costco Mexico. Very cool. Just like our Costco but the cafeteria is outside. <br style="text-indent: 0px !important; ">She then took us to Revolucion and we shopped a little over there. Got a smokin' good deal on some silver jewelry from a vendor that Trish knows. I was ready to walk away, when I told them I couldn't afford what they were offering and then they called me back in to give me a better deal. 2 earrings and a set of bracelets (bangle style) for $60. Originally wanted $180. This is a gift for my girls who wouldn't have appreciated the price, so I was tickled with that offer. My mom got a Jimmy Choo knockoff purse for $75. He originally was offering it to her at his best price of $145, haha. So fun! We walked lots and I felt so good. Not tired or sore or anything. Amazing!! I had such an awesome sleep in the hotel room our first night out of the hospital. Lucerna is a top notch hotel and the beds are really comfy. My mom woke me up @ 4:30 to tell me to roll over, that my snoring was keeping her awake, so it must've been a deep sleep. Feb 6th: Dr Kelly and Trish came by our room early on to check up on me and my incisions. Had a little visit then they left and mom and I walked to the mall again. We had missed alot of stores and had a few more gifts to buy. Again, I felt great. Mom and I had lunch at a nice restaurant in the mall. It was called California something or other and had a menu more familiar to us. You could have a fajita or cheeseburger. My mom had the buffet. I had soup. We walked around and shopped for a few hours, then walked back to our hotel. We had supper that evening with Trish and Dr Kelly and his little boy Richie. We had a nice visit and a good talk about some of the goings on with a certain patient coordinator. Feb 7th: Woke up at a decent time, showered, repacked and got ready to go home. We were able to sit out in the sun for about a half hour before our driver was there to pick us up. It was beautiful out. We were heading back to -30 C so we really enjoyed the heat of 25 C. AHHHHH! Very nice driver, had a nice visit while waiting to cross the border. His name was Jonaton. Got us to the airport and we had enough time to have a relaxing lunch @ Chili's before we had to board our plane. ADIOS Amigos! Like everyone else has said, walk, walk, walk. Try to get down to see the ocean if you can get someone to go with you. I was up in the middle of the night walking and I've had very little gas pain. Just a little in my chest that feels like a burp caught sideways. Nothing like people talk about with the pain in the shoulders etc... Eight days later and I'm still having a liquid diet except for yogurt. Getting bored with it and can't wait to move on to solids. I have had constipation and have been taking Benefibre and just picked up some Metamucil. Other than that I have nothing else exciting to tell you. It has been wonderful so far. I can't wait to start seeing some results.

Eat foods that are really soft like yogurt, pudding, jello, soups that are healthy for you.

I couldn't tolerate them either. It is the whey and would trigger my gag reflex. I literally ate night protein yogurt and high protein milk for 3-4 weeks. I recently tried muscle milk coffee latte and it has milk protein and is kinda tasty.

Things are going fairly well for the most part. My RNY surgery was on 12/09/19 and I have lost 30 pounds since the surgery. I have lost a total of 115 pounds total since starting this journey to a healthier me on 05/07/19, when I started my six month doctor supervised weight loss for the insurance clearance process. I was on a complete liquid diet for the first 28 days. I am on soft foods now since 01/07/2020 and have been having issues with nausea. I have asked my team about this and they think that it may still be swelling or my body may just take a little longer transitioning to the next stage. Said that if I am still have this issue in 3 weeks that they will perform another endoscopy to check and make sure there isn’t something else causing the issue. I also am having issues with constipation. I’m currently two teaspoons of Benefiber every day and this week I started taking Colace. I have been taking Milk of Magnesia 1 – 2 times a week. I also try to make sure I eat at least one container of yogurt every day. I think that it may be from not getting enough water each day. Most days I usually get around 60 to 70 ounces of fluids but prior to the surgery I was drinking 90 ounces plus a day. I do not regret having the surgery. I feel so much better. My back, knee and ankle pain is almost nonexistent now. I have gone from taking nine medications a day to taking four medications.

Yes my surgeon considered these full liquids "cottage cheese and yogurt" plus and whole lot more like oatmeal. I know they are all different. Remember when I was freaking out because I didn't have to go on a "liquid" pre-op diet? and it seems like everybody else on here did.

It sounds like your in the liquid stages which for many of us is very different, but read your lables, I found the Soups I was using had 7=9 grms of Protein, eggs are high in protein, cheese, yogurt, I only used Protein shakes to supplement when I couldn't get enough in because I was running around town etc. I like walmarts whey vanilla protein pwdr, with frozen fruit, ice and Vitamin Water in a blender as a smoothy, I would just make small ones since I am not big on protein shakes. My dr let us have lentil soup, cream butternut squash, pumpkin soup, all good protein, just watch fat content. When your first healing a little fat won't destroy your journey. Later I found canned boneless salmon made up with a small amount of mayo was another good source of protein, and goes down easier than tuna, that with a slice of cheese was often my lunch when I hit the mushy stage. I was banded March 24 and have lost 60 lbs so far. Remember you can only absorb 20 grms protein at a time, so don't try to take in all 60 in one large sitting, you won't absorb it all. Spread it out. Good luck.

I have tried it in many things but not crystal lite. I love it in my morning coffee. I whisk the powder with my sugar free creamer real well then add my coffee. It is awesome and love to be able to get some of my Protein intake for the day without really tasting the protein. By the way it is nasty in yogurt.

kiba78 & banded4change, How exciting we will have ours on the same day! I do my pre op apt with the anesthesiologist on the 10th and will find out my surgery time then. I don't start my pre op diet til the 10th. I did buy everything I will need, so I don't have to worry about anything. I got Vitamins, Protein drinks and powder, etc. My preop consists of Protein Drinks, broth, unsweetened apple sauce, grits or oatmeal, milk, decaf, no creamer or sugar, greek yogurt, and vegetables. and goes down to clear liquids only 2 days before. I just hope I can make it on this diet for a week, I'm not worried about after surgery, cuz I won't be hungry like that, but before hand, will power and hunger scare me! Banded, good luck on your surgery! It sounds like you're all ready! Yikes! I haven't told anyone but hubby either. I am hoping this works because I have never been able to really stick to a diet for more than a week, and not lost more than 10-15 pounds and that was only 2 times...years ago! So, I'm hoping this will be the miracle I need! I'm ok with losing -2 lbs. a week, shoot that's more than I can consistently EVER do on my own! I just really need this to work, and I want to still feel normal in my daily life. I don't want to be deprived.

what 3 "meals" are you speaking of? Protein shakes? You don't have meals, the shakes are your meal; unless your dr. is doing it differently. The Snacks are things like no sugar Jello, low carb (carbmaster) yogurt...things of that nature... it helps you get thru the day... is that what you are referring to?

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.

VerticalSleeveTalk Newsletter Hey Sleevers!The lull of summer is ending, and autumn is just around the corner. How did you do in meeting your goals this summer? We hope you met your weight loss and health goals, but if not, don’t worry. It’s the perfect time to get back into your weight loss routine if you got sidetracked during a summer vacation. Pick yourself up, return to your bariatric surgery diet and, of course, let us help! Here is what you’ll find in this month’s newsletter. Sleever Poll: How Did You Find Out About VerticalSleeveTalk.com? Member Spotlight – Meet ShrinkingMama! Your Sleeve Gastrectomy lunch – Packing Your food for a Busy Day Keep the Forums Positive! Take a look at the newsletter and then join us at VerticalSleeveTalk.com! We’re always looking for more participation, and we welcome your feedback, so drop us a line whenever you want! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder VerticalSleeveTalk.com Sleever Poll: How Did You Find Out About VerticalSleeveTalk.com? A. Search engine (e.g., Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc…please tell us which one) B. Friend or family member C. Your surgeon D. Your primary care physician (PCP) E. An offline support group F. Your nutritionist or dietitian G. Someone else from your doctor’s or surgeon’s office (e.g., a nurse or receptionist) H. App store (e.g., iTunes, Google Apps Marketplace) I. Another way. Mark your answer and discuss it in the forums! Member Spotlight – Meet ShrinkingMama! In this month’s newsletter, we’re happy to introduce ShrinkingMama, a 28-year-old wife of a police officer and stay-at-home mother of a 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. Her family is her world and the reason for her surgery. ShrinkingMama came from an Italian family, which revolved around food, but she weighed only 140 pounds throughout high school. She began to gain weight during an abusive relationship, and did not lose much even when using Weight Watchers. She met her husband in 2007, continued to gain weight and was 200 pounds by the time she was pregnant with her daughter. As she says, she “did what any other pregnant woman does: eat!” She was on strict bed rest for her third trimester and weighed 240 pounds. She lost 20, gained it back during her second pregnancy and could not lose much with Weight Watchers, diet pills, Jenny Craig, Overeaters Anonymous, hypnosis or SlimFast. The straw that broke the camel’s back for her was last summer, when her weight prevented her from taking her son on a certain ride. She loved the third surgeon she met, and changed her mind from getting the lap-band to getting vertical sleeve gastrectomy. Her pre-operative preparation went smoothly, and surgery was December 2012. Her first week was rough, but she recovered well and began “dropping weight like crazy.” ShrinkingMama now weighs 147 pounds and is nearly at goal weight of 140 pounds. She has been on a gluten-free diet for about a year because of celiac disease. She is very proud of herself for making this decision and following through. Her husband has been completely supportive, and her parents have come around, for the most part. ShrinkingMama is looking forward to skin removal surgery when she is at goal weight. ShrinkingMama is completely happy with her surgery, and she offers this advice. Listen to your surgeon and nutritionist. Do not compare yourself or your weight loss to others’. Talk to other patients to learn. Be patient! ShrinkingMama, thank you for sharing your story and especially your enthusiasm with us! Congratulations on your weight loss and your new chance at life! If you want to be featured in the Member Spotlight section of our newsletter, let us know in the Member Spotlight forum! You can also nominate another member. If you’re shy, just send a private message to Alex Brecher. Your Sleeve Gastrectomy Lunch – Packing Your Food for a Busy Day By mid-September, many of us are back into regular routines. If you have children who take their lunches to school, you make sure their lunches are appetizing and healthy. Your own lunch deserves just as much care. These tips can help you create easy gastric sleeve-friendly sack lunches to take to work. Have these helpful items on hand: An insulated lunch bag A small spoon, fork and knife A set of small containers with tight-fitting lids Plastic baggies An insulated beverage container (unless you stick to Water bottles) Once a week: Figure out how many days you will need to take a lunch to work in the coming week. Plan your lunch menus, make a shopping list and get the groceries you need The night before: What can you do so that packing your lunch is easier in the morning? Measure your chicken breast Pack a serving of leftovers from dinner in a small container with a tight-fitting lid Wash and cut some fruit and vegetables Pack your utensils and a bottle of water Count your crackers Portable protein: Just as it does when you’re at home, Protein comes first when you’re on the go. These are some ideas for brown baggers. Tuna or chicken in cans or pouches Hard-boiled eggs (If you have a fridge at work): cottage cheese Fat-free canned refried Beans or low-sodium pinto, black or garbanzo beans Low-fat string cheese or light Laughing Cow cheese Lean ham or turkey breast Leftover grilled chicken or fish Peanut Butter If you’re still in the pureed foods stage, try lentil Soup, Protein shakes, hummus and Greek yogurt. Nutritious combinations: Combine your protein with vegetables, fruits and whole grains for their Fiber and other nutrients Dip and raw vegetables, such as carrot and celery sticks, grape tomatoes and cauliflower florets salad with chicken or tuna and shredded low-fat cheese Peanut butter on whole grain crackers or with apple slices Ham and low-fat cheese rolled up in a small whole-grain tortilla Greek yogurt with high-fiber Cereal or melon One-half small whole-wheat bagel with fat-free cream cheese and canned salmon If you’re post-op and not at the solid foods stage yet, try fat-free cottage cheese with pureed canned peaches, fat-free refried beans with low-fat shredded cheddar cheese and instant oatmeal with skim milk and Protein powder. Have extras on hand. You might get stuck working late or unable to make your planned lunch-time trip to a grocery store. Stash protein-containing Snacks at work for those occasions. Protein Bars and powder, canned tuna and chicken, roasted soybeans and almonds provide protein and do not need refrigeration, so you can keep them at work or in the car. Lunch after weight loss surgery can be a disaster if you opt for fast food or whatever’s in the vending machine, plan, but you can easily pack a healthy lunch that fits into your diet. Plan ahead, have the containers and utensils you need and focus on lean protein and other nutritious choices so that your lunch supports weight loss. Keep the Forums Positive! You come to VerticalSleeveTalk.com for information and support. Unlike many other online forums, VerticalSleeveTalk.com maintains a positive atmosphere and has zero tolerance for rudeness. We welcome anyone who is interested in weight loss surgery, regardless of their personal beliefs about it. When you see a post that is inappropriate or offensive, please report it using the “report post” link located at the bottom of the post. We realize and appreciate that nearly all members try hard to be welcoming, helpful and polite. These are a few tips to help you avoid avoid accidentally saying something that can be hurtful to another member. Say, “my surgeon told me…,” not, “the only right way is…” Say, “I think I would choose …,” not, “You made the wrong choice.” Say, “Have you considered…?,” not, “You’re not ready for your weight loss journey.” Say, “I have found that …,” not, “The right way is …” Each of these statements let you give your own opinion and advice without accusing other members of doing something wrong. Thank you for keeping the boards positive! That’s what we have for this month’s newsletter. You can always check out the old newsletters in the archive section. Thank you for reading it and for your contributions to the board! Take care of yourself and each other! Sincerely, Alex ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: {unsubscribe}

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 also had my surgery on 3/12, and have had a hard time with the mushy food stage. I've been eating a lot of Greek yogurt (more protein) and unsweetened applesauce. We're going to attempt Shepard's pie tonight just to mix it up. I don't really have a desire to eat much of anything. I'm still mainly doing the Popsicles and jello.

Hey guess I'm Dee.. I had my surgery on March 12th... as of today all I've been eating is soups (liquids only ofcourse) sugar free popsicles jello and frozen yogurt, mashed potatoes ... I was told I can have egg salad tuna salad chili .. I can no longer stand the smell of eggs or tuna ( which both used to be my favorite) I'm craving everything but don't fall into temptation ... I need more variety or I'm gonna go nuts!! Any suggestions????

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!