Indymom

My portion size right now is 2 oz per meal, 3 times a day. I am religiously measuring everything because my "eyeball" measuring is terrible (as evidenced from all my weight watchers failures!!!). My plan calls for me to increase to 3 ounces at 3 months, and go up from there . . . I think by 6 months I'm at 5 or 6 ounces. My nutritionist recommended I try to take a half hour to eat. That is REALLY hard, I was a very fast eater prior to surgery. I try to take a bite and put the food or my fork/spoon down between bites. I've also been surfing the 'net or reading a book while I eat so I'm not focusing on it completely.

I was very lucky in that I was getting down a ton of liquids and all my protein by day 4 (my doc had me on clears until then). Hang in there, I bet it will get easier and easier each day for you! Just remember to constantly sip sip sip . . . I keep my water bottle right next to me all day long.

I don't know about TOM cravings but I'm only in week 3 and holy cow, I took the kids for Penn Station carryout tonight and I had to actually leave the house while they were all eating. The bread smelled SOOOO good!! I could walk by chocolate all day long without a second glance, but give me bread, chips . . . I'll go nuts.

I had to pay a $150 fee that covers lifetime access to the nutritionists and the pre-op nutrition class I took. My insurance didn't cover that but they covered everything else.

I can tell a big difference in your face already! Congrats!

Our event was today. They had 'continental breakfast' and the pastries looked so good! I settled for a small chunk of banana and the babybel I had brought from home. For lunch they had an Italian buffet - seriously??!!?? I had about an ounce of mozzarella from the caprese salad and some of the minestrone broth and a few pieces of soft carrot. They brought in Cookies for lunch, and I had a small chunk (like 1/8th) of a Peanut Butter cookie; I made sure I had a piece with no nuts or anything. It tasted divine but I don't think my sleeve liked it . . . I felt a little funky afterwards for about 15 minutes. Finally we had our after-hours event and dinner was from McAlister's Deli so there was a platter of wraps, fruits with fruit dip, potato chips (I seriously drooled!), potato salad and brownies/cookies. I had some of the potatoes from the potato salad mushed up a bit and some slices of cheese from the deli tray. It was really hard but I survived. Glad your day was better today, HDub!

I'm SO with you, I have to go to an all-day sales meeting tomorrow and I'm sure I'll be extremely limited on what I can eat. I'm getting a little frustrated about this stage too, the days can't seem to pass quickly enough!

Yep, I agree that the aftertaste is likely ketosis. It's gross! It makes me feel like my tongue is burnt. Not sure about the pain in the chest though, I'd definitely call the doc about that.

I've got a little less than 6 weeks before I can have full solids, but only 12 days before I can add some canned chicken/tuna. I've never been so excited about chicken in my life!

Mine had started to curl a little and just generally irritate me (and itch) after about 10 days. I waited until I was at the 2-week mark and then off they came. My incisions are all completely healed at the 18-day mark, although I think there's a tiny curl of a suture sticking out of one of them. I figure I'll just let it hang out and if it's still there at my 4 (5?) week follow-up, I'll ask my surgeon what to do about it.

Also, I drink my protein shake in the morning with my water because lots of times I'm trying to get my morning pills down at the same time. You don't have to wait 30 minutes to drink water after a protein shake, that's only after actual food.

I'm not familiar with them, but my nutritionist gave us a list of approved multivitamins and said if we were going to deviate from their list we needed to email them the nutritional info from whatever we were considering so they could review and approve. I am using NatureMade multivitamin complete softgels, 2 a day. They have Iron in them so I take my Calcium at a separate time of the day. The softgels are big but they go right down with a little Water.

Syntrax makes a flavorless powder - it's Nectar Medical. I've been using that, 2 scoops for 20 grams protein. I've only been mixing with milk and sugar-free hershey's syrup though, so I don't know how it would be in food.

Congrats and glad all went well! Keep up that positive attitude, the liquids and purees can get a little monotonous but just keep telling yourself that it's only for a short time.

I had lots of belly growling early on and it turned out I needed to up my PPI from once a day to twice. Since then I haven't had any feelings of "hunger" other than in my head. Keep in mind, too, that you're still on liquids so everything is running right through. I bet once you're adding in some solids you'll get full easily.

You look awesome! When was your surgery?

How is your Protein intake? I started my protein on day 4 and have maintained at least 70-75 grams of protein daily (and sometimes more). I feel like that's really helped my energy level, I started walking around the block as soon as I was home and now, 18 days out I am walking a TON. I did about a mile and a quarter yesterday (at a brisk pace) and tonight I did close to 2 miles. Once you start walking more it will make you feel really good . . . I am loving it!

I was a long-time smoker too and had tried to quit multiple times unsuccessfully. I quit a month before surgery but cheated quite a bit during the weeks leading up to surgery. I had my last cigarette the Saturday before my surgery. I haven't had one since and hopefully will be able to stay quit!

It's really best to refer to your nutritionist's guidelines that were set. Did you get a packet of information following surgery that had your meal plans? I know on this site that every surgeon seems to have a slightly different plan. On my plan in the first month I can have refried Beans, yogurt, applesauce, pureed fruits/vegetables, soft cheeses, sugar free pudding, etc.

Good luck, the next two weeks will fly by!

Are you still tracking what you are eating? From what I've read on this site, some of the other posters have said that they hit stalls and they weren't tracking. Starting to track again and keeping the carbs low enough has helped to get them back on track.

You look awesome! That's the exact reason I took a REALLY unflattering set of before pics (wearing a tight tank top and spandex bike shorts) so I would be able to easily see differences month over month.

Congratulations! I love the idea of dining with my "skinny" friends and not feeling like I'm more focused on the food than on conversation with them. Great goals!

Yeah, my food plan is a little unusual because I was allowed to start refried beans, cottage cheese and soft lowfat cheese on day 4 . . . but I can't start solids for 2 months. Definitely talk to your nutritionist!

I used mine religiously the first week after surgery . . . 10x 4 times a day. The second week I used it about 3-4 times a day, about 5 breaths each time. I put it away about 3 days shy of the end of my second week. I'm not having any problems breathing!