la faute

oh ups. zucchini! thank you all for the support and advice - i did try today to drink first and it was better than yesterday. tomorrow i'll start with something lighter and report back. as i said it is only the first meal of the day... all in all i seem to be doing well so far - i check body temp regularly, if it continues tomorrow i'll call the doctor. but it only started with real food, so maybe it is too soon to eat it, despite it being mushed to oblivion... anyway, good night to you from europe - good day for those just starting out...

hello ladies, i am two weeks post op and my diet plan is v. different from yours - i am already on mushies (as long as i am slow in eating them). i am even allowed toasted white bread (as long as it is not either too soft or too brown), small shaped pasta (ie letters for babies) and ground meat. i had purred meet and courgette on my first day on mushies and it took me forever to eat it but i LOVED it - i am still hungry and weak.... maybe grenlins are still hanging around in me.... but here's what i worry about: no matter what i eat - yogurt, soup, egg etc, the FIRST spoonfuls of the day bring a horrible pain on the back of my neck and shoulders - it's excruciating. i have to shut my eyes and lie down and it can last from anywhere between 10 to 45 min. it is different from chest pain. it is not indigestion - i am careful with quantities because my doc said i shouldn't stretch my limits yet. i have not experienced nausea or vomiting at all since after anaesthesia. subsequent meals do not hurt - just the first one. any ideas please? i am really suffering...

hey amy - oh my goodness european sleevers on american forums unite! (ok you're american really but vienna is vienna). i completely understand! demel's ana torte? this is my fifth day sleeved and that i would happily eat.... err. one day! and my favourite jams are viennese.... ugh. i'm having a moment of regret. this too shall pass. is the plan to be a new you when you go home? or will you stay on in vienna indefinitely? i hope you have friends/family to hold your paw...

yay!!! that's excellent news!!! wooohoooo!!

hello everyone... so i'm greek. i thought i'd set up my credentials before i explain why. the only greek yogurt exported from greece, that greeks actually eat and is made in greece by greeks (!) is fage/total. the originally fage total came at 10%. then it appeared on the market at 0%, 2% and ultimately 5%. it is not sour: it should be thick and creamy. if it isn't, it's just a poor imitation. sadly 5% total which is in my humble opinion the absolute top best, is unavailable outside greece. but should you be in this neck of the woods you should try it. the rest though is exported, and lucky for all of us who live abroad (i live in the uk) we can find it in our local market! yay! danone, yoplait etc are all greek style yogurts. these in particular are french. the french like their yogurt thinner and a bit more sour. now it's a taste you might go for, no doubt, but it ain't greek, babes! i definitely use it instead of sour cream (in this case we have the opposite phenomenon: good sour cream tricky to find in greece so you resolve to yogurt). if you cook with it you want to add it in the end, because it shouldn't be overheated: it might "separate" your other ingredients and pretty much destroy the dish. the traditional way to have greek yogurt (as desert) is with a spoonful of honey mixed in. it gets tricky with locating the honey too: greek honey is made from very dry herbs (instead of flowers), so it has a strong and pretty strange flavour. the only one that approximates and i know is exported (decent quality but by no means the best) is called Attiki. (it comes from the region of athens). apart from the sugar which you might not want, it is supposed to be a very good source of vitamins, particularly as pertain to the skin, hair and nails. then again it might be a myth... this is the country after all... but i'm getting carried away... the greek pedant ps. just don't start me on olive oil....

i was not allowed anything to drink for the first two days post sleeve, just the drip. i was extremely nauseous anyway. the third day, i think i might have managed about 2 cups of tepid tea in 24 hours.... then onto pure liquids for 2 weeks, no Proteins. from what i've read in this forum i have gathered that this is not the standard in the us. (i've had my sleeve done in europe.) the hardest thing i've had to do was crush prescription medicine and mix with Water and drink up. this causes severe nausea and burning feelings. absolute hell. still i have managed to keep it down so far. my trick is simple: drink up, wait the required 10 mins before i can lay down. go to bed and sleep it off as fast as possible. my prescription only exists in pill form. thank god it's tiny or else....

errr.... egg white omelettes? nuts as snacks? nut flours/butter?

hey - i was told by my doc to only use skim milk - he said full fat was too heavy for the liquids only stage. hope that helps....

hello everyone, i was so moved by the posts on this thread, while i've been reading the threads with dedication this is the first one i've ever replied too. first of all i am HORRIFIED at what your boss said, kids05! i suggest the following: keep a diary with emails, messages dates, times etc with every single negative comment that has been directed at you from work. in case of a dismissal you have ammunition for discrimination - i am uncertain how things work in the US but this is certainly the law in the UK - and (in theory) you guys are better off in the US when it comes to such dilemmas. speak to an attorney!!!! I am worried that you are directing all this hatred towards yourself - i certainly have grown to hate my body through the years, and i am always actively trying to be gentle to it to counterbalance. i am constantly frustrated that i couldn't keep the weight off when i lost it in the past- and believe you me I did! i have tried every conceivable healthy approach under the sun adn STILL eat emotionally, still crave foods, still postpone exercise.... i can't be motivated all the time and it takes only a slight hormonal change to catapult me over the edge for a month-long spiral... you get the picture. Obviously we are each responsible for our bodies, but there are so many other factors that have led us to where we are today. it is not just laziness, for god's sake. i am constantly amazed by the huge gap between what makes sense and what actually happens. it makes perfect sense not to eat chocolate, and yet the only thing reminding me that actually achieves is feeling guilty while eating chocolate. it makes perfect sense to have 3 meals and 2 snacks a day - i have never faced a hardest challenge day in day out. we follow patterns that we have established throughout our lives, from the earliest childhood - and they don't always make sense. they are incredibly hard to break. our vices are visible - thin people also have vices, theirs are simply more discreet. having an awful post-op experience doesn't help obviously - there are so many testimonies here to prove that others have had success where you are encountering difficulties. it doesn't make what you're going through the wrong choice, just a harder one. sure you deserve a break - but maybe your break has/will come in another path: maybe you have a fab intelligent child, or a secret talent or an amazingly supportive husband. don't you think those are breaks? i wish i didn't have to undergo surgery to catch a glimpse of who i wanted to be, to give my life a chance to become what i hoped it would become. i wish change came faster and actually looked positive. i wish routine wasn't boring and i wish i wasn't scared every step of the way. i've come to think it's wishing that holds me back! when i get stuck i remind myself of the "wise" zoolander quote: the guy had to magically pull his underwear out of his butt to beat you! this is a bit like what we've done, isn't it? no one said it was pleasant. just hopefully, ultimately better than the alternative. as a last note (sorry to be so lengthy) think on this and discuss with self: if you had not done the op would this be a likely scenario: 1)5 yrs from now would you still hate yourself for a)your looks and b)thinking you didn't have the guts to be proactive? 2) would your weight have caused serious medical issues like a)diabetes, b)high cholesterol, c)back pains etc? 3)would you be able to go through low risk pregnancy for the baby? i hope the difficulties you're experiencing are just a rough patch. think positive: chances are you'll emerge healthier, thinner AND with a better job. you're on the way to reinvention and that is never easy. courage!