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I actually prefer the non chocolate flavors..... Banana nut muffin, berry bliss, apple pie, vanilla almond, and coconut cashew are my favs.

@@My Bariatric Life. I mostly agree with you. And KNOWING exactly where your food comes from is definitely the way to go. I try my best to buy local from producers I feel comfortable with. As you can see from my previous post, not all of them are ones I would patronize. I shoot my own deer and elk. My beef is local grass fed angus. My turkey and pork are purchased from 4H kids. Fresh trout comes straight out of Jackson Lake or the Snake River. Clients give me more free farm eggs than I can possibly eat. If I could stand the taste I could have all the goats milk and goat cheese I want, but...Yuck! Being in Idaho, I am, of course limited to seasonal fruits and veggies. The rest of the year I buy whats commercially available in the grocery store, but don't always go for the organic. Seafood, of course, is the big missing link and, again, I'm stuck with what's commercially available. But all in all I'm much better off in knowing the exact source of my food than I think a lot of people. And from what we've both shown, unfortunately there is rarely a perfect choice.

Yea, it kind of sucks. There are always pros and cons to every choice we make. There's really no simple, healthy answer short of growing/raising/butchering all your own food. Which is pretty much how I grew up, but oh, how times have changed!

Ooo the strawberry preserves sound yummy. I've actually got an unopened jar of raspberry preserves that someone gave me for Christmas. Guess I'll try them on my pancake this weekend! In fact, I'm thinking of making a thinner batter, calling it a crepe and rolling it up with cream cheese and preserves....drooool.....

Oh, and hate to burst your bubble about organic food, but after my experiences with actual organic farmers, I'm reluctant to support them. Here are some examples... 1) two separate clients contracted worms from eating unwashed organic vegetables. We know this because they came to us to have their dogs dewormer, thinking that's where they got the worms. We directed them (and their physicians) to the CDC website where it clearly described that this type of worm is NOT contracted from animals, but instead, from oral-fecal transmission between people. In other words, the organic veggies they were eating were contaminated with human feces. 2) organic dairy farmer had a cow trying to give birth but the calf was presenting breech. The only option was to perform a C section, but the farmer wouldn't let us use the local anesthetic required to do this. Instead, both the cow and calf ended up dying 3) a DIFFERENT organic dairy farmer had a cow with a torn teat that had become infected. He had been feeding garlic to the cow to try and treat the infection which obviously wasn't working. Since we couldn't treat with antibiotics, the teat and part of the udder eventually became gangrenous and the cow was sent to slaughter (and subsequently sold locally as organic beef) 4) an organic farmer who doesn't treat for weeds produced a crop of hay that was infested with a poisonous weed. The hay was fed to a herd of 10 horses, 7 of which ended up dying. 5) an entire farm's pigs died from a preventable disease because the farmer wouldn't vaccinate. The owners actually asked if it would still be OK to butcher them.....REALLY? The neighbor's pigs, who were in contact with the sick ones were vaccinated and none of them even got sick I was raised on my mom's home garden produce and our neighbor's home-raised chickens, eggs, pigs and beef, but when it comes to today's commercial organic food, I'm a bit leery. We see a lot more sick and parasite-ridden organic animals than non-organic ones. For me it's a matter of weighing the alleged potential of harmful chemicals in the food I eat vs animal welfare. (Sorry about hijacking this thread with my rant)

Had VSG at OCC dec 2013. Had a pain and complication free recovery, I'm now well below goal and living a totally normal life, just 100 pounds lighter. Although I've never consulted with their nut postop, I have had great postop communication with Dr. So and Dr. Martinez. Even though my questions have been about medications Rx'd for non-surgical issues, they've always been available for consult and offered suggestions for protecting my sleeve. Welcome to the OCC family! Safe travels home and good luck with your recovery.

Yep, I stopped vitamins day before surgery and restarted day 7. The nut will sit down with you and go over all of the postop diet instructions before surgery. They will send you home with a detailed, day to day diet plan including suggested foods for each stage as well as vitamin suggestions. I actually contacted the nutritionist and requested all of the postop diet instructions be sent to me ahead of time so I knew what to expect and I could shop and prepare accordingly. You could probably do the same.

I know all about the hardcore BARF fans. I've just seen too many problems from them. And a lot of times the problems stem from improper handling of the raw meat and dishes, etc. Did you know that in some veterinary hospitals (especially in Canada) dogs fed raw diets are quarantined when they come in and considered infectious because of the parasites they can potentially harbor and pass to other patients? Homemade diets certainly have their place, especially when a dog or cat has food allergies or certain medical conditions. We've worked with a holistic vet and used the Chinese temperature-based food charts to help develop diets for patients with cancer, liver failure, Cushings, autoimmune disorders, etc. But they really should be cooked and making sure it is a nutritionally complete diet is challenging. As for commercially prepared foods, it's kind of like with us. Read labels. Know what each ingredient actually is (for example, "meal" is not a bad thing) Use common sense. Find out what you can about the manufacturer - any recalls? where are they getting their raw ingredients? Did they conduct actual food trials in determining their AAFCO status? Do they have their own manufacturing plants or are they outsourcing to mass production factories? Recalls often happen not because that particular food is bad, but because it was processed in a plant that also makes another food that was recalled. There are just so many new, smaller, regional dog and cat food companies that offer a good product, that the search for the "perfect" one is certainly daunting. Nutrisource, Victor, Pioneer, Purevite, Go and Now are some of the ones available locally and we recommend to our clients. (But not all of these are organic and/or grain free)

To say we should eat like a caveman is like saying we should feed our pets all raw diets because their wolf ancestor do. It's theories like that that keep those of us in the veterinary field in business...mostly due to serious GI infections, recurrent diarrhea, perforated intestines and my least favorite, impacted colons. I'm not saying that the paleo diet contains unhealthy elements, it's just that it seems incomplete. Paleolithic man was basically limited to eating what was locally available. A caveman living in Europe ate differently than one living in Northern Africa or Asia. And where is horse listed on the paleo menu?....this was a big food source for some Stone Age tribes. And they didn't eat dairy because they hadn't domesticated animals yet, not necessarily because it was bad for them. Like someone else said, it's basically a marketing ploy like so many other fad diets. And to say you eat "mostly" paleo or paleo X% of the time is like a "vegetarian" saying they only eat chicken once or twice a month.

Not me. I know you have enough sense not to eat that everyday. A one off ain't gonna kill ya.And if I had it every day I would definitely want a big scoop of ice cream to go with it! Besides, I had plenty of calories to catch up on since I worked 16 hours yesterday and all I managed to eat was a Quest bar, a Protein smoothie, and a hard boiled egg. NOT a well balanced day ????

Well the food police would really have a fit if they knew what I had for breakfast today. Our first client of the day had baked us an apple/blueberry/black berry/raspberry pie. It would have just been rude not to enjoy a piece! ????

Yes, I eat hot Cereal and/or pancakes for breakfast every weekend. I make a whole batch of pancakes at once and freeze them, so all I have to do is throw them in the microwave for 30 seconds. I top it with real butter and real maple syrup (never was a fan of the low sugar/diet crap) I have one pancake with a small turkey sausage patty, but usually can't finish it all. My pancake mixes of choice are Bob's Red Mill or Kodiak Cakes and I add 2 extra eggs and a scoop of unjury unflavored Protein powder to the batter. French toast using eggs and vanilla Protein Powder for the batter is also a favorite of mine. For cereal, I love Bob's Red Mill 10 grain hot cereal. I eat it plain or better yet, add bacon bits and cheddar cheese to it, or a 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder, dash of milk and blueberries. I also have Kashi Go Lean cereal in my cupboard at all times and either eat it with milk or mixed in Greek yogurt for dessert or my bedtime snack. Depending on your body, It is TOTALLY possible to be successful post-WLS and still eat the things you like without getting carried away with the whole no carb thing once you are in maintenance. ****Note....Other than veggies and some fruits, I did not start adding in carbs until I was within 10 pounds of goal****. In the meantime, Just get in all your protein, Water, Vitamins and make good healthy, balanced choices.

I used Premier Protein, Muscle Milk, Raw Fit, Raw Protein, Syntrax Matrix and Syntrax Nectar and Spirutein shakes and powders. Used water flavor drops and Torani syrups for more flavor options. I also mixed Unjury unflavored powder in different broths as a savory alternative to one of my shakes everyday. For me, Variety made the pre and postop diets very easy. In fact I still have a large protein/fiber smoothie every day and I never have the same kind in a single week. I was required to lose 5% which was 12 pounds. I was afraid I wouldn't lose enough so I started preop diet 2 days early. I ended up losing 22 pounds so apparently I worried for nothing. I ate like a pig right up to the day I started my preop.

i had the same surgeon as JamieLogical. Pretty much the same preop diet. I was actually required to lose 5% of my body weight prior to surgery. Ended up losing almost double that! And it really gave me a good opportunity to fine-tune and experiment with that liquid diet we all loved so much postop!

For the first 4 months I could not tolerate plain Water, lactose or artificial sweeteners. All gave me pain/cramps. But all of those passed and I can pretty much eat anything now. Certain things will make me gassy (although that can be true for someone with a "normal" stomach). Some things, like sweets and alcohol will irritate my sleeve if I eat too much. But that's more of an irritation/gastritis response rather than intolerance. One of my surgeons explained the intolerance thing like this....especially in the beginning, our sleeves aren't quite functioning like a normal stomach. It can't process foods as thoroughly, so the food particles and molecules are entering the intestines in a different state than they have in the past. Sometimes the intestines just have a harder time dealing with these "under digested" particles and the result is intolerance to those foods. In some cases, the intolerance will get better, but other times it can last forever. And allergies are different than intolerances, but that involves going into another long discussion about immune response....

It's great that you feel so good (so did I) but Unless you'd like seeing globs of hair falling out of your head in a few months, I'd work on getting your protein and vitamins in. Not to mention your body needs protein in order for your sleeve and abdominal incisions to heal.

So sorry you are going through this, but like others said, you need to consult with your doctor if you are still vomiting everything this far out. Are you on a PPI? Taking pain meds? Able to take Vitamins? Have you tried anti nausea medication? I'd be miserable, too, if everything made me sick, but I would be calling my doc everyday until he figured out how to make me feel better so I could get proper nutrition. This surgery is meant to help us get healthy, not make us sick and malnourished and your surgeon should be going out of his way to make things right.

Friday night...cheddar bacon vegetable soup Saturday night...pan seared pollock with tartar sauce and 1/2 apple (I know, weird combo, but I hadn't put any fruit in my smoothie that day and had to sneak in another serving) Last night...spinach with browned butter and hard boiled egg Tonight....Thai curry stir fry with chicken, tofu, asparagus, green Beans, onions and carrots ( I made a huge batch of this a couple weeks ago and froze individual portions) Pretty sure I had Greek yogurt with Kashi go lean Cereal as desert/bedtime snack every night as well And now, thanks to @@sallyomalley67 and @@BLERDgirl I am now jonesin for some cabbage. Hope I can get to the store tomorrow!

Last night was the Annual Chili Cookoff fund raiser for our local animal shelter. I've helped organize it for the last 4 years, (ironically I am in charge of the dessert auction). So this morning I got to thinking what a difference a couple years and WLS has made for me when it comes to this event. It's interesting how things have evolved. Two years ago I was just in the beginning stage of thinking of having WLS. I hadn't even decided what kind yet. Last year I was 3 months VSG post op and still not quite feeling "normal". And this year I'm below goal, well into maintenance and enjoying life. Here's what I consumed each of those years.... 2013 Tasted 8 chills, had 2 pieces of cornbread, 6 Jell-O shots, a piece of pie and too many beers to remember. Went to an after party where we ate MORE chili and drank MORE beer. Went home stuffed and drunk. 2014 Tasted 3 chilis, drank Vitamin Water and had two tiny forkfuls of dessert (my first sweets postop, actually). Went to an after party and sipped water. Was very stuffed and went home with a belly ache. 2015 Tasted 6 chilis, had 1 bite of cornbread, drank 2 raspberry twisted teas, and had 4 forkfuls of dessert. Was not uncomfortably full or drunk and went straight home happy where I drank 12oz of Sleepytime tea before going to bed. Here's to life after VSG ????????????????

Like VSGAnn2014, I lived on NSAIDS (and tramadol) for years. But in the 15 months since surgery I've only had to take them a few times. No more ankle, knee or back pain! I did have to do a course of steroids for some neurologic problems in my neck ABOUT 10 months postop and they can be just as damaging as NSAIDS. My surgeon and PCP were both fine with it as long as I took stomach protectants (omeprazole and sucralfate) at the same time. They were only concerned if it was an every day thing (which it was, for two weeks). They said not to worry about an occasional NSAID here and there. In fact, my surgeon sends patients home with sublingual NSAIDS.

Sounds like you are doing very well. But I do agree with bkrchk that if you let your body get used to such a low caloric intake, it will be difficult to maintain on higher calories once you get farther out. I made it a point to get my calories up as soon as possible. I had switched to full fat dairy, more whole grains, more fruit, etc by 6 months out....I was near surgeon's goal weight at that point and still ended up dropping another 22 pounds and Maintenance has been fairly easy at 1400-1600 calories. I was using products with real sugar, not artificial sweeteners from the get go because artificial sweeteners hurt my sleeve for the first 4 months. Even after I could tolerate them I still go for the real sugar options because they taste better. As for what you can eat now, that will likely change. There was a huge difference between the volume I could eat at 6 months compared to 10 months. And 15 months is different than 10. As for "grazing", if eating 6-8 times a day is considered grazing, then I am definitely a grazer. I eat when I'm hungry and that's every 2-3 hours. And it may just be a few bites of something. The only time I actually sit down for a real "meal" is when I go out to eat with friends which is only like 2-3 times a month. The rest of the time it's mini meals/snacks all day long. And yes, I get a belly ache sometimes, too. There are certain things that I know cause irritation and other times I can't figure out what the culprit is. It scared me at first..."is there something wrong?!" But for me it's just normal. Rolaids, A warm cup of camomile tea or digest ease tea usually works to calm my tummy. I too, am all about the Protein shakes and Quest bars. I know I wouldn't be getting enough protein without them. Or at least I'd have to sacrifice my fruits and veggies in order to do it. But based on your labs, how you feel and your weight loss progress, I'd say you are rockin this!

Like others said you will probably still be able to eat your favorites at some point postop, so there's really no need to have funerals. As for me, I had a yummy night of stuffing myself on Thai food planned for the night before my preop started. But my "last supper" never actually happened. It was a long day at work, I was tired, so I just got a Subway sandwich on my way home. Turns out I didn't miss out on anything cause I've had Thai dozens of times since then.

I definitely don't consider postop life as dieting. The joke reminded me of the diet hell I lived in for 20 years before having VSG. Now it's mostly silver lined clouds ⛅️and flute playing angels ????

I am 15 months out and don't measure or weigh my food and I don't count calories, so I figured I couldn't really answer your questions. But I thought I'd pay attention to what I was eating for a few days and think about some of my typical meals so I could give you some input. Here's examples of what I can eat in one sitting.... Container of Greek yogurt usually with Kashi Go lean Cereal mixed in 4 oz of fish with tartar sauce. But I usually have to spread this out. I can eat about 2/3 then take a little break before finishing. 2/3 cup of a thick Soup (I had homemade cheddar bacon vegetable soup yesterday that's thick like a chowder or stew) 1 cup of a thinner soup like Amy's Thai curry 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill hot cereal with Protein powder added (only if I eat really slow and I usually end up reheating it at the end) Maybe 2-3 oz of dense protein like chicken or steak 1/2-3/4 cup veggies Quest bar (which doesn't fill me up) One egg omelet with cheese and veggies or cheese and ham/bacon. I could probably eat a 2 egg omelet, but have never tried it. One small pancake and 1 small piece of turkey sausage. Actually, I can't quite finish this. 1/4 large apple or 1/2 small one 3-4 pieces of sushi (hand roll) 3-4 small BBQ ribs The smallest Chinese takeout container lasts me 3 meals. On the other hand, I could drink Protein shakes non/stop and probably inhale an entire jar of Peanut Butter. chips, cake, Cookies, cheesecake, ice cream, etc could go down very easily in mass quantities! As for calories, I counted for a couple days back in December (before the Christmas feeding frenzy started) and I was getting 1400-1600 calories/day. Probably still about the same. As for hunger, I could easily eat every 2 hours but I try to push it to 3. I'm definitely hungrier in the afternoon and early evening, but not so much in the morning or later evening. If I eat sweets I definitely start craving sweets. But that's not really hunger.