Hello everyone! I'm 18 years-old and I've just had my surgery two weeks ago, so the band inside has not been filled yet. I have already made it a habit of eating more healthier foods before the procedure and I have luckily not had any nausea or pain since then.

Anyway, I am currently eating soft food, and I'm pretty sure I'm eating much less than I had pre-op. I've lost 13 pounds in the first week (probably due to the swelling and the very little content I was allowed to eat). But in the next week, when I was permitted to eat things with a softer consistancy (pudding, Beans, Soup, etc), I haven't lost a pound! My doctor told me-- and I considered that this was the case before we met-- that it was probably due to my Protein intake. After the procedure, one must consume at least 70 grams of protein per day. I have been dumping as much protein I could in my smoothies, to the point where it's not overloaded with it and gross-tasting, but it's not enough.

My doctor told me that I was doing well so far, but I can't help but to worry.

What I'm basically trying to ask is: How important is protein in your daily diet? And what have you guys done to incorporate this into your diet into your everyday lives? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Hello and welcome! This article from msnbc has a pretty good take on Protein. Hope it helps.

Protein 101: How much do you need? - TODAY Health

Protein is very important--and there are lots of ways to get it. You say that

I'm pretty sure I'm eating much less than I had pre-op.

. It's time to move beyond "pretty sure" you're eating less to being certain. You can do this by tracking your intake on a site that helps break down what you're eating in an easily-understandable way, such as Fitday.com.

It will help you make sure that you're not sabotaging yourself by making common mistakes such as making smoothies that are too high in calories and fat.

I'm not suggesting that you must be doing this---in reality, it's very common not to lose much weight right out of the starting gate.

I'm just suggesting that, in order to evaluate how you're doing, you really need to have concrete information that journaling can provide for you.

Sharazy,

Congrats on your band and losing 13 pounds! Protein is so important to your healing and weight loss. Too little protein can result in unsavory things like hair loss. :thumbup:

Try to write down everything you eat either as a written diary or online site like fitday or myfooddiary. Once you are certain of what your intake is you can adjust your meal choices to maximize protein intake. I try for 65+ grams every day but generally take in around 80g. I feel better when I get enough protein especially when I've worked out especially hard.

I like greek yogurt (14 or more gms protein) cheese sticks (~6gms), Peanut Butter (6gms) eggs (6gms) to name a few. Be careful with dumping protein into your smoothies. You can only process so much protein with each meal. My nut and doc recommend around 20-30gms per meal.

Talk to your nutritionist or surgeon if you're concerned. If nothing else, they can reassure you that you are doing the right things.

Good luck!

Thank you guys! I guess I should start to keep track of what I put in my smoothies, since that may be the main issue here (I do think I may be putting in too much whenever I blend). I want this opportunity to work, and I will do whatever I can to make it happen.

My shakes have 30g Protein in them. Thats awesome, because if I have two I am at 60g already! Have you tried greek yogurt? The kind I eat is 17g or protein.

Protein is vital but I was also told that the first 4 weeks after surgery are time to recover and heal and that I can lose weight for the rest of my life, I need to heal then.

Right now, your weight loss is not your focus. You need to focus on healing and adjusting to life with the band.

Stay off the scale! I would say stay off until you are preparing to start excercising and eating full solids. Follow the doctors instructions now and you will attain and maintain a healthy you in no time.

I dont think Protein in and of itself is magical. I mean, you need it, for sure and most women probably need 60 to 70 grams a day. But I absolutely do not believe eating less than that will mean you dont lose weight and I especially dont believe that eating more will improve weight loss. That is still very much speculative and the evidence supporting it is far from totally convincing. Calories in, calories out is all it comes down to in the end.

So even though improving your protein intake is only for the best, since you'll be better nourished, dont be surprised if it doesnt improve weight loss. For some people it does, for sure, but along with increasing protein you MUST make sure you're burning more calories than you consume. If you increase protein on top of what you're already consuming, you could also increase calories and slow your weight loss considerably.

In other words, its the proportions of your diet that you must work with, not quantities overall. So if you need more protein, you work mainly with protein and fresh produce and you keep the calories strictly down in the less important areas - sugar, white carbs, limit even wholegrain carbs to some degree, and make sure you get loads of fresh fruit, vegies and protein. That way you'll have calories under control AND your protein balance right.

And exercise! That's a huge factor. If you can get to the point where you're burning 500 calories or more in a session, you wont look back.

I was banded 9-28-09 and didn't eat enough protein, ate too many carbs, I was literally fighting my band. In the past 7 weeks after my last fill I have lost 16 lbs. It took me that long to get my act together and make the band my friend. I am now at 9 cc's in a 10cc band. I still haven't hit my "sweet spot" everyone talks about and I am hoping with my next fill in 1 week that I will get to experience it. I keep my protein around 60-100 a day and carbs under 30. I exercise at least an hour with cardio and weights 5 nights a week. So I am finally on track and can't wait to lose the extra weight, I already feel better. Best of luck to you and welcome to the band world. If you need a band buddy just contact me.

robertsgal@yahoo.com