blizair09

Get back on the wagon. Eat small meals of lean, dense protein, get your calories down around 1200 or so, and get your carbs below 20-25 grams. You'll get the weight back off.

I use the full fat version of everything as I eat a low carb/high protein/high healthy fat diet (and have since 6 months pre-op), but Daisy also has a reduced fat product. There is a strawberry version of the preserves with no seeds (I think they call it strawberry jam). I have never had issues with the seeds (I don't even notice them to be honest). I introduced the preserves when I was able to introduce cottage cheese to my diet (which I believe, on my plan, was at 3 weeks post-op).

I eat Daisy brand. Try it with the preserves. You still get the curd effect, but it is quite good. (And 13 grams of protein in 4 ounces!) And if strawberry isn't your thing, Smuckers has a variety of sugar free flavors.

And a tip on the cottage cheese -- mix 4 oz of cottage cheese with 1 tablespoon of sugar-free strawberry preserves. It is amazing. I have it twice a day -- first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It accounts for 12 of my 20 carbs per day. That's how much I like it!

The key to eating out is lean protein and green vegetables. I can't even fathom eating a fried mozzarella stick.

Meeting your protein and water goals is a full time job in the first few weeks post-op. You have to do whatever you have to do to meet them. That is why I took 6 weeks off of work after surgery. Physically, I needed to recover, but I also had to get my head in the game post-op and understand how it was different from life pre-op if I wanted to be successful long-term. I suggest that you keep sipping. Set a timer to remind you to meet certain milestones every 15 minutes. (If you drink 4 oz every 15 minutes, that's 16 oz in an hour and 64 oz in 4 hours. You are up a lot more than 4 hours, so you could even start at 1 oz or 2 oz every 15 minutes and let it take you 8 or 12 hours total.) Even at 7.5 months out, I eat 8 meals about 2 hours apart and do the water drinking in between (allowing for the 30 minutes before and after eating). It takes me 12-14 hours to do this each day (even while I am working). It's a commitment, yes, but it is what it takes to be successful. Good luck!

Yep. Quite often. I've learned to just deal with it and look at it like a badge of honor!

Well-cooked green beans, cottage cheese, and string cheese. At 7.5 months post-op, I still eat each of these things every day.

I stayed low carb even throughout my post-op food stages, so I had to severely limit the amount of strained cream soup I could eat during that time.

I've tried to like almond milk, but I find it heinous. I would rather never drink milk again than drink it...

Here's my two cents on alcohol: My background with alcohol is very familiar to yours. When I started my six month pre-op diet program, I had 3 different visitors come to town (I live in New Orleans where everyone likes to visit) within the first month. I knew that if I didn't cut the alcohol out, I was never going to get anywhere. So I did that. I didn't drink for the remainder of my six month diet program (where I lost 100 pounds pre-op), and for the first 3 months post-op (in order to give my stomach time to start the healing process). My partner and I went on a 3.5 week tour of SE Asia in December and January, and I had very limited drinks on that trip after talking about it with my surgeon. Now, at 7.5 months post-op, I'll have drinks every now and then. The issue is that I have to account for those calories, and when I do have drinks, that is food that I can't have. Trust me, when you only eat 1200 calories or so per day, you notice if food is missing. (The sleeve doesn't eradicate hunger forever.) On days when I know we'll have drinks, I have to use protein shakes to meet my protein goals and sometimes, that leaves me hungry later in the day. So, it's really up to you and how you want to spend your calorie resources. I have decided to put alcohol completely on the shelf until I get under 200 pounds. (I'm hoping to get there in the next couple of weeks.) And even then, it is a once every-other-week kind of thing for me now. Good luck!

I battled serious fatigue for a solid 8 weeks post-op. I took six weeks off from work, and the first two weeks back were tough in the afternoons. During those 6 weeks off, I took a nap every afternoon.

I can honestly say that I don't have those weak moments anymore. I purged carbs from my life six months before my surgery and I continue to eat very low carb even at seven plus months out. I worked really hard to look at food as fuel, and to not make it the centerpiece of any point of my life. For me at least, it took those kinds of extreme measures to get to a point where there are no weak moments.

What are you eating every day? How many calories are you taking in? Carbs? Protein? Are you tracking your food at all? I'd recommend taking your carbs to 20 or less, cutting your calories to 1200-1500 (I have no idea what your current size is to know if that range is appropriate, but I weighed 400 pounds when I started and I was at those calorie-levels for months pre-op.), and journaling everything you eat and drink every day. Good luck!

What a lovely post. Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy life together!

On my plan, strained creamed soups came in at Day 10 (at the same time as yogurt, sugar free pudding and applesauce). My bet is you can have them Wednesday with your "stage 2" food. Good luck!

I would sit this one out. I would be afraid that I might slip and fall in that mud and cause some damage to my stomach that won't be fully healed for months and months. Just a suggestion -- but there is plenty enough time for this kind of activity once you are in a better physical condition...

Too many carbs for me...

All of the sleeves in the world won't make a bit of difference if you don't change your relationship with food. I would get back to basics tomorrow and devote yourself 100% to doing what you need to do. I seem to remember you asking about carbs a while back. If I were you, I get my carbs reduced, journal everything you put into your body, and eat within defined parameters. Good luck!

Great job!

For me, meat has been central to my success, so I can't imagine a post-op diet that doesn't include large amounts of it. And I have cottage cheese twice per day, but that is it for dairy as it has too many carbs. (In fact, 12 of my 20 carbs per day come from the cottage cheese. I keep it around because I like it.) Like others said, this is a marathon, not a sprint. But you do need to focus more on protein and less on bread and dairy if you want to be successful long-term. Good luck!

I have 20 or less per day. I've been doing that for 13+ months now and I've lost nearly 200 pounds. I am a carb addict. There is no moderation there, and I only plan on having slightly more (as in less than 40 or so) once I get to maintenance in a few months. YMMV.

@LIA-70 Go you!

You could eat 4 oz of steak at one time. Wow. I can't even do that at 7+ months out.

When I do have an alcoholic beverage or two these days (which for me didn't start until 3 months post-op after a 9 month hiatus from drinking at all), I go with red wine or whiskey and water. I would always just go with the red wine, but it has some carbs, so I have to watch the amounts there. The issue for me is that in order to have the alcohol, I have to cut out food on those days. I use chicken and protein shakes to meet my protein goals, but I have to save calories for the booze. As fun as it is, I'd rather eat than have the drinks. That's why we only go out every once in a while...