Newfoundlove

I can get in 60 grams of Protein a day, but I'm eating really protein rich foods like cottage cheese, greek yogurt and fish. My morning snack is Protein shake made with Crystal Lite Margarita Mix, 1 scoop unjury Unflavored Protein (20 grams), and my Calcium citrate (powder form). I put this in a 24 ounce bottle and drink it throughout the morning. So it works for me because I get in a good amount of Water plus my protein. Most days I am right at the goal of 60 grams that my NUT has me on for now.

I am fairly newly sleeved - just three weeks, but I have had no regrets. But then, I've had no issues either. A little bit of constipation, but Colace fixes that. From immediately after surgery I was able to drink fluids without discomfort and have been able to get in 64 ounces since day 3. After 7 days I started taking a few chewable Vitamins and have had no issues there either (although I don't particulary enjoy their taste). I have had no food intolerances (except for the very small amount of Peanut Butter that I mixed in to my chocolate shake - learned off that one). I'm also using a cookbook to try different foods allowed. Even though I can have very little food (usually about a 1/3 cup now), I like the flavor of the food and the different textures. I also love to cook, and I promised myself that I would not let my surgery change that. I can still have the food I love, just in much smaller amounts. Last night I made a baked cod with a lime and coconut milk sauce (1 T). I also steamed up some broccoli and cheese. I only had two pieces of the broccoli and about an ounce of the cod, but it was delicious and I was completely satisfied. I would imagine however, that if I had a lot of problems with food intolerances, etc. after surgery, I might have moments of regret. I do know that my joints already feel better because they are not having to support the 30 pounds I've lost so far, and having my pants literally fall off me today when I was getting dressed put a gigantic smile on my face. I can't wait to be able to have some fashionable clothes in my closet again! Hang in there, it will get better. Everyone says that, and it really is true. Stay positive!

Have you tried substituting a meal with a protein drink? Or maybe even a couple of meals just to see if that will jump start the loss? That's probably what I would do if all else failed. That, and of course, exercising as you've already suggested. Isn't it funny (well maybe not so funny) that things that used to work, like low carb, don't work now?

Awesome NSV!

Had my first NSV yesterday. As I was getting ready for work, I put on a pair of slacks that were rather tight before surgery. I pulled them on, zipped them up, and they promptly fell to the ground! I laughed out loud as I was thinking about the YouTube video of the grandpa singing the Pants on the Ground rap song. This is a great memory for my first NSV.

I am three weeks out now. My NUT lets me have these in the soft food stage as long as I put some type of sauce on them. I put a small amount of low fat gravy on them. I also chewed them until they are mush. I could barely eat a half patty. You could probably put some chicken broth along with the patty into a blender and make them in to a really soft mush, but I did okay with the sauce and chewing.

I was sleeved on May 3. I only weigh myself once a week and won't do that until tomorrow. Last week I was down 24 pounds.

Costco carries them under the Sabatino's brand as well. I had half a patty last night for dinner. The are soft enough that my NUT let's me have them on the soft-food phase. I put a tiny little bit of gravy on them. Went down great! I love they have that much protein too!

My surgeon has a nutrionist that maps out the food stages and what we can and should not eat. They want us eating five meals a day. They call the mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals snacks, but want them to be high protein like Greek yogurt or cotage chees, cheese sticks or a protein drink for now. I'm still in the early stages though so at each appt they will be Checking how I am doing and make adjustments accordingly. Right now they want me to get in 60 grams of protein. I get pretty close to that daily. In a couple of months though I know they will want me to get to 80 grams of protein. I know that I've seen a lot of posts on here from people that say protein with every single meal and eat it first. I'm really enjoying trying new foods that are high in protein (santino's feta, spinach & chicken patties for instance - 21 grams in one patty - get them at Costco) and knowing I'm eating healthy, even if it isn't that much food.

I am almost three weeks out now. I didn't get hungry until this week, but I started back to work and while I'm eating about every three hours, i feel hunger before dinner. I think it's because I am drinking all the time during the day, but tend to not drink driving home (I have a little bit of a commute) and then I'm getting dinner ready for the rest of the family and I'm pretty famished by dinner time. But, 1/4th cup of food and I'm usually full.

My surgeon had me start on Mushies two weeks out after one week on clear and one week on Purees. Purees are pretty much anything you can grind up to be almost as smooth as baby food. I did make a shrimp salad puree that was pretty yummy, but mostly I did cream Soups, cottage cheese, chili with sour cream, Beans, greek yogurt with no fruit or added sugar. I have a Magic Bullet so I could grind everything to just the right consistency but a food processor or blender will work too. I could bascially eat 1/4 cup. Instructions from my NUT have these items on the mushy/soft foods stage which I stay on for two weeks and then I graduate to regular food: Any soups Cottage Cheese Soft Cheese Any cooked fish Ground meats with sauces Very soft vegetables except for peas and corn Yogurt - especially Greek, you can use the kind with fruit (no seeds) now Applesauce Hummus Really, anything that you don't have to chew too much. You'll still want to chew your food because this stage is also training you to chew your food and eat slowly. I started the soft/mushy stage last Saturday and depending on the food get down between 1/4 to 1/3 cup. I eat five times a day, but my morning snack is my Protein shake. I really eat slowly though (which is a challenge at work!) and so it takes me 20 minutes to eat my food. Last night I had spaghetti sauce made with turkey italian sausage - about 1/4 cup. It went down great. I haven't had any problems though with any of the foods except for Peanut Butter. It has too much sugar in it I think. I put less than a teaspoon in my Protein Drink well blended and boy did I pay for it. I try and keep to mostly Proteins because I am eating so little food and I need the energy so I haven't really added in any carbs like cooked potatoes. Yogurt for Breakfast with some Protein powder in it is my staple and cottage cheese for a snack. If you can't do cottage cheese, try skim milk. Good luck!

Yes, that's normal. For me that taste started going away when I started on purees and now I'm on mushies and it is totally gone.

I still can't stomach the Premier Protein drinks. I can choke them down if I have to but am trying other sources. I LOVE cottage cheese and Greek yogurt but currently can only eat 1/4 cup at a time and I'm 17 days out so I still need to supplement. Two days ago I made a Mediterranean Tuna Salad which is really good and I get a good amount of protein from the tuna. At this time my NUT wants me to get 60 grams of protein at least, so I''m still supplementing with shakes (and probably always will). I add Unjury Vanilla protein powder to my yogurt too. I did find a decent mixture that is currently working for me. 1 scoop Unjury unflavored Protein Powder, 1 tsp of Crystal Light Margarita mix powder, and I mix this with about 24 ounces of water as I have a 26 ounce water bottle I use daily. I drink this usually in the morning and can get it down pretty easily within an hour or so. I get 20 grams of protein along with a good amount of water too. Tonight I am making Tilapia for family dinner so I should get a decent amount of protein in from that and these other sources.

tjmom -- I had my telephone appt with my NUT yesterday too. Who is your NUT? Mine is Barb. I really like her. Two years ago Melanie was my NUT when I was trying to get my nutrition on a better track but she now pretty much just runs the company although she did my pre-op class with me. Glad to hear you are doing well. Glad we are now on the Soft foods phase--lots more options. Staying Positive!

Hi Robin - I hope everything works out with your insurance company. Everyone's recovery is so different after surgery. I've had no complications so if I had a desk job that didn't require me to do too much, I could probably have gone back to work after a week. I do a lot of computer work also, but I also manage people and have a generally high-stress job. My surgeon was pretty adamant about not going back until two weeks because stress can affect surgery recovery in so many ways. He is okay with me working from home, checking emails, etc. Yesterday I worked for about seven hours with several breaks. Today, I'm a little bit more tired and will probably knock off after six hours or so. I do now others that have gone back after a week so they'll probably weigh in. Good luck!

Yay New Hope! That is great news!

TJMom - isn't this weather wonderful! You and I had the same surgeon - Dr. Billing, so I've been faithfully following your posts. Joni - yay! You are doing great! Down below 200 too! Congrats! I can't wait to see that number for the first time in 13 years! Stay positive everyone!

Hello everyone! I'm now 12 days out of surgery and feeling pretty darn good! I started puree's on Saturday and have had no issue. So far I've had Amy's black bean turkey chili, cottage cheese, yogurt, cream of wheat (love this!), and shrimp salad. Everything has gone down really well. Tonight I am making a mediterranean tuna salad. I'm not minding this stage a bit. Everything tastes great and my Magic Bullet is getting a workout! It has been interesting to me how my sleeve really does tell me when to stop eating. I measured out 1/4 cup food to start and thought I would go up to 1/3 cup yesterday, but my sleeve constricted just enough to tell me it was full and I stopped. I'm getting in about 50 grams of Protein right now which my NP says is fine as long as I work on increasing every week. I am getting my vitamins in without an issue as well as my 64 ounces of fluid. I'm walking with my husband every day. Not too far as my left hip is giving me some issues, but at least I'm getting out there. Our weather here in the Seattle area has been beautiful so evening walks are really nice. I'm still not back at the office but yesterday I did start working from home. I put in about six hours and wasn't too tired by the end of the day. I could probably go back to the office, but I'm a little bit of a workaholic and don't need that stress to interfere with my recovery. My post-op appointment with the NP last Friday went well. She couldn't believe I was only a week out (first day I had put make-up on, not to mention a bra!). My incisions are healing well, I'm sleeping on my side, and just really have no issues. I am treating myself to a massage today as my back is sore since I am favoring it over my stomach muscles while I heal. My weight loss has been steady. About eight pounds lost since surgery. I will be happy if the weight comes off a little slowly as I would really like to avoid any extra skin issues if at all possible. I know some of the other 50's have had some post-op challenges. I hope you all get through them and stay positive! Personally, I've been viewing this very positively and I think that has really helped me get through pre and post-op. Have a great day everyone!

As have many on this forum, I've been finding it challenging to get in my Protein, and have it taste half way decent at the same time. Today I found a really good mixture. Mix together: Crystal Light Pomegranite Cherry powder 1 Scoop powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury (or other brand) vanilla Protein Powder 1 Cup Water 3 Ice Cubes To me it tastes really, really, good without being too sweet!

I get it at my nutritionists office, but you can also get it through Amazon.

21 grams of protein are in each scoop of Unjury Protein Powder, so it's a good amount. This calls of only a cup of water, but I actually use close to 20 to water it down a little bit.

I think everyone has their different fears and that is perfectly normal. Mine was getting the IV inserted--I am deathly afraid of needles. Here's what my surgeon did to help with any nausea. The night before surgery, he had me put a Scopalmine patch behind my ear. This is a prescription. Some people use it for sea sickness. I had to keep the patch on two days after surgery, but I actually kept it on for four days. This makes your mouth really dry but after surgery you can use Water or ice chips to aleviate that Three hours before surgery I took a pill they gave me a prescription for but can't remember the name. Maybe someone else can remember. Then during surgery they pumped me full of other anti-nausea drugs. After surgery I had no nausea at all. However, if I did they would have given me medication. Don't be afraid to ask for what you need, whether it's anti-nausea medication, pain medication, heartburn medication, etc. My surgery was 9 days ago and I haven't vomited a bit. Just take it slow when you introduce new liquids and food to your sleeve. Take a sip or two and wait to make sure your sleeve can tolerate it. Good luck. I am sure you'll do just fine.

Holy cow. This explains a lot. I have been constantly cold since surgery. I'm wearing layers during the day and it's been close to 70 degrees, and a flannel night gown at night sleeping under a quilt with another warm blanket on top. Glad to know it's normal! LOL

Found a great book in my search for recipes yesterday as I am going to enter the Purée stage tomorrow. It's called Before and After by Susan Maria Leach. She has Gastric Bypass Surgery in 2001. The book was updated in 2007 so I felt it was recent enough to read for some ideas. I found it enjoyable reading even with some of the differences between the sleeve and bypass surgeries. The eating is pretty much the same -- protein first carbs last. There are some absolutely fantastic recipes for the purée and soft foods stages. I can't wait to try them. There is an especially yummy sounding recipe for shrimp salad I cannot wait to try. You can download this book for eReaders. I have an iPad and was able to get it yesterday.

Yes, several of the recipes are really easy. The bean soup seriously sounds yummy and easy The shrimp salad sounds easy too. Buy cooked shrimp at Costco or SAMs that's frozen, or good quality canned shrimp might work too. If you have a library close to you, call them and see if they have it. Then you can look at it first before buying it.