Hi everyone. I was sleeved on 9/30/15 at a weight of 205. I'm down to 173.8 as of this morning. Overall, I am pleased with the pace of my weight loss. I did encounter the dreaded three week stall (that lasted for nearly three weeks) but I'm out of it now. The first month after surgery was really easy to lose weight. The way of eating was new to me so it was different and easy to stick to. Over the past few weeks, I have grown tired of the same old things and have found myself trying things like bread, Pasta, and even Cheetos. I've not had any trouble from eating these foods. I think the only reason I'm continuing to lose weight is because of how little I am taking in. Even though my sleeve can tolerate bad foods, it can only tolerate a tiny amount of them. The problem is I don't want to continue like this. I want to be someone who eats lean meat and veggies but I can't picture that in my head. My mom let me eat badly from a very young age (she would go get me Mcdonalds if I didn't like what she made for dinner) so I feel like I am conditioned to only like the bad, processed, foods. I have tried many different types of vegetables and asparagus literally made me gag. I'm not trying to be dramatic but my taste buds just don't like the healthy stuff. The healthy things I DO like are few and far between. I need to find ways to eat healthy and actually like the taste of what I'm eating. I've heard many people say that you won't crave carbs once you're off them but that's not been the case for me. I'm still craving things that I haven't had for months. I'm hoping you all can give me some tips on how to get back on track. I need to "reset" my way of eating. I know that if I don't get a grip on this now, I will just gain all the weight back.

I take my Vitamins religiously but I don't always get my 64 oz Water or 80 grams Protein in. Any tips for increasing this? My plan requires no Fluid 30 minutes before a meal or 30 minutes after a meal. Each meal is supposed to take 30 minutes so that's 90 minutes that I can't have water anytime I eat, whether it be a meal or a snack. I'm eating three meals per day and two Snacks so that's 5 times per day that I can't have any water for an hour and a half. I've found it incredible challenging to get all my water in with this type of restriction. Any tips are greatly appreciated.

I'm waiting to see what ppl answer. I can't eat without a lil swallow. This helpshould food go dwn & I don't over eat. Without it, I never know & keep eating & pain.

I'm waiting to see what ppl answer. I can't eat without a lil swallow. This helpshould food go dwn & I don't over eat. Without it, I never know & keep eating & pain.

I take small bites too. I don't have any issues with overeating; I'm just not making the best choices regarding WHAT I eat. Even if I eat bread, I can only take a few bites but I shouldn't be eating bread in the first place. While it may not be a huge issue now, I'm afraid it will lead to weight gain in the future when I am able to take more than a few bites.

my best advice with trying new veggies is add butter no lie anytime i want to try a new veggie i steam it in my rice cooker/ veggie steamer and add butter and garlic salt. the salt is important to give it flavor. also with asparagus one of the things i do is cut if the hard stems and just eat the soft parts

First, get all the bad food out of your house if possible.

Second, check Pinterest. There are lots of Bariatric friendly recipes on there.

Third, are you using fresh veggies, frozen, canned?

Fourth, play with your food. Try squeezing lemon on steamed broccoli. Making mashed cauliflower with cheese. Add 1/4 to1/2 of a mashed banana and a little honey to a mashed sweet potato. If it doesn't work for you never make it again, if it does work add it to your recipe file.

Finally, and this is big for me personally, plan your menu for the week. That way you can shop for everything at one time, prepare what you can ahead of time, and you can vary things so you're not eating the same things over and over.

I would really recommend working with your RD or NUT on this. Start with what you DO like that fits in with your plan - which Proteins, any veggie/fruits? Identify which textures you like best. Those are your building blocks. Then have her/him work with you on trying things you haven't thought about that fit your taste/texture profile. Don't try to change everything all at once. My RD told me for the transition to solid foods: "Treat your stomach like a baby's". That really made sense to me - add only one new food at a time. You might find some new favorites along the way. It's hard when your palate is set in the opposite direction that you know you need to go.