GreenChrysalis

Hey olgi330 and congratulations! Well, you definitely need to walk to combat gas/bloating, but I can understand how you might overdo it too. I think I did that the day after my surgery -- DH and I walked around in a mall for a little while and I got pretty tired. I had liquid Lortab as a pain reliever but my anti-nausea med was the dissolve under the tongue kind and I'm glad I only had to use it twice, because it tasted horrible! It worked amazingly fast, though, which is good because the first time I took it was on the plane back home.

I got pretty creative with the soups by the end of it, including butternut squash soup and pea and pesto soup. Yogurt smoothies are good and you can buy pre-made ones that are fat- and sugar-free/low in sugar. You can also puree just about anything in a blender or food processor, just make sure to thin it out with broth, Water or juice depending on what you've got going in there. Be careful, though. I made the mistake of pureeing some beef stroganoff sauce (no rice or noodles) and thinned it out with beef broth, but it bloated me up. I think it was too soon for meats and too salty. You could try thinned baby food. I had the chicken and ham kinds but I didn't much care for the texture -- I found it kind of gritty. I also liked runny pudding and custards. My doc allowed me oatmeal and cream of wheat on full liquids as long as they were very watery and thin.

If you like cold salads like tuna, chicken, ham, or egg, they're pretty easy to make, high Protein and filling. You can get creative, too. This week I had tuna and avocado salad (I got that idea from the mushies thread). No mayo since the avocado made it creamy, but I did add some garlic and lime juice. I made about 1.5 cups, divided it into thirds in small containers and that was lunch for 3 days. You do have to watch the portions if you add high fat items like avocado or nuts (I love pecans in chicken salad), and ff mayo tastes fine to me when mixed with lots of ingredients. But you can process them to the consistency that you can tolerate. I'm on the tail end of the mushy stage so I process the heck out of it. :thumbup: I've gotten a lot of good ideas from the "What are you eating today?" type threads here also.

If you mean a ticker, you can learn how to do it here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/

I'm with travelgirl. I'm sure your DH means well, maybe he just doesn't realize how it sounds. You're an adult and if you want to have a few glasses of wine on occasion, then so be it. You're aware that they're empty calories and all the rest of it, but it's your body and your decision. I am the on the other side; my DH has always eaten poorly and eaten large portions, although I used to match him pretty well. The other night he was eating spaghetti and I was eating cottage cheese mixed with some tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese (on the tail end of the mushies). I had to bite my tongue to keep from pointing out that he easily had three servings of Pasta on his plate -- it was enormous. He always ate more pasta than me before but now it looks even bigger compared to the amounts of foods that I'm eating. I try to buy healthy things that I know he likes and encourage him, but I can't make his food choices for him. So he hasn't been the food police for me really, although he did remind me to eat slowly and sip slowly right after I was banded. I had a pretty bad habit of vacuuming up my food!

B - packet of banana bread Weight Control oatmeal S - 2 cubes of watermelon, 2 cubes of cantaloupe (we had a reception for a new employee and I am so proud that I found it easy to avoid the chips & salsa and the cheese coffeecake!) L - 1/3 c. hummus, 1/2 c. applesauce S - Atkins strawberry shake D - probably 1 c. butternut squash soup S - cheesecake pudding I start real foods this weekend!

Thanks. I guess so, but the thing is, my in-laws were extremely overbearing and controlling. My husband stopped talking to them completely. So my mother is aware of what can happen when you cling too tightly to your adult children, and yet she is in danger of going down that road. I don't think it helps that she doesn't work, doesn't have many activities and has health problems. She just dwells on things for a long time. I am trying to be understanding but also protect my brother, who has a high-stress job and also has some health problems that are aggravated by stress. Hopefully it'll get better after the wedding!

A lot of surgeons tell you not to drink soda, period, once you're banded...and other say not to within the first six months. So I'd check with your surgeon before doing that.

I live in metro Atlanta, Georgia. I've lived in the state my whole life and would like to see the rest of the country if I can convince my DH at some point.

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I don't have a confession but I wanted to reply to bthin4me. I just wanted to say that I don't think you should assume that whatever is posted here will be true for you, too. Nobody is perfect, but we are all different. So focus on making yourself successful. As a fellow emotional eater, I would suggest therapy. It is helping me find healthier ways to deal with my emotions and find out why I started eating emotionally in the first place. I'll be three weeks post-op tomorrow and I've done pretty well. Good luck!

Call your doctor. Now. Good luck!

I quit using straws during my pre-op diet, just to get out of the habit. I like the idea of writing a goodbye letter to food, though. But which thing would I pick? Ugh, I have a problem. My first fill is scheduled for 3/18. I already bought my plane ticket, made my hotel reservation, etc. I was going to use two sick days (leaving late on the 19th as Dr. K told me he would prefer that I stick around in town for awhile after the fill). I was actually sick this past Monday -- no way I could've schlepped into work -- and my sick days are tight already. I earn 8 sick hours and 10 leave hours a month and I used up all of my leave hours when I got banded. I just found out that there's a big staff development day on the 18th. I have only been in this job for six months and I really need to be there; it would look so bad not to be. But I also know that if I have to reschedule my fill then who knows when I'll get in? I will be a little bit past four weeks at that point. I don't want to wait much past that for a fill. I planned to fly back to Dr. K for my first fill at least. When I made the appointment I was hoping for a Monday or Friday since that would be easier than two days in the middle of the week, but there was nothing available. :thumbdown: Does anyone think I have a chance of getting in anywhere close to the 18th if I call to reschedule?

I like this. It's good to see what everyone else is eating -- I'm always looking for ideas and so far LBT has been great in general for that. Note: My surgeon has his patients have 3 Protein supplements daily at this stage. I don't always have room for all 3. Yesterday: B - Healthy Dairy ff yogurt smoothie S - Atkins strawberry shake L - 1/2 c. tuna & avocado salad, 1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce S - Atkins chocolate shake D - 3 ounces pureed BBQ chicken thigh (recipe from Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery), 1/4 c. mashed sweet potato w/cinnamon & 1 Splenda packet S - 1/4 c. cheesecake "pudding" (recipe is in the main mushy food thread) Today: B - 1/2 c. ff almond & honey yogurt w/ a tiny bit of mashed banana S - Atkins strawberry shake L - 1 c. butternut squash soup S - Atkins chocolate shake D - probably 1/2 c. cottage cheese microwaved with 2 T. sugar-free tomato sauce and 2 T. Parmesan (plus oregano, basil & garlic) S - Atkins vanilla shake

I bought some sets of child's/toddler's plates with matching fork and spoon sets. There are some nice ones that aren't characters or baby imagery if you look hard enough. Or I just use our saucers. My DH still eats off our regular dishes of course.

Hi April, are you getting in enough water? I would start with that. My surgeon does not want me to use psyllium (like Metamucil) because it can expand in the upper pouch and I was told to call the office if I am constipated. But he also states that it is normal to only have a BM every 4-6 days when you are eating less (less in, less out, right?). Maybe call your surgeon and ask. :biggrin: You could also try prune or apricot juice.

Hi Grace! I wish there were a FIX for head hunger. I think the number one thing is distract yourself. Find something else to do so you're no longer focusing on the food. I have a blog and have thought that maybe I should write in it when I know I have head hunger. I drink Water. I watch a favorite movie or read. Play with my cats. Daydream and think about how good I'll feel and look when I am at a healthy weight. Come here or find something funny to read online. Even cleaning! Just sitting there doesn't make it go away, that's for sure. I did not tell my family either but my DH knows...can't imagine living with someone who doesn't know. That's definitely tough. I have had to tell him, "I am not hungry, but I WANT that." We still eat dinner together so watching him eat pizza and chicken wings while I was sipping broth or eating Jello was tough. It is so much better now that I'm in mushies. It'll get better, that's all I can say! :biggrin: Shellie, I think that purees is pretty much the same as mushies. You can puree almost anything, which makes it so much easier. For example, tonight for dinner I am having some mashed sweet potato and a baked skinless chicken thigh pureed in my food processor with some homemade sugar-free BBQ sauce. Sometimes my pureed stuff looks weird but when you are sick of cream soups and pudding, you are happy to eat it!

Oh man, I couldn't imagine having to make food for people that I can't eat. Luckily it is just my husband and he lived off frozen dinners and other stuff (he can cook basic things like spaghetti) for the past two weeks. Now I am in the mushie phase there are a lot of things I can cook and puree my portion. I do avoid the food commercials on TV (hurray for DVR) and don't watch Food Network. I also stick to the perimeter of the grocery store (most of the junk is in the center) and my husband has to buy his own junk food. It has gotten easier. I remind myself that I haven't eaten bread, Pasta or rice in over a month (due to my pre-op diet) and I never would've imagined being OK with that before. But I am. We can do this.

Hi Bugalu, I don't think I've heard anyone say that weight just "falls" off with the band. It still takes work, but you're doing it with a tool that you didn't have before. However, you should not expect to lose weight before your first fill. A lot of people do, true, but not everyone. At one week post-op it is possible that you are retaining fluids and are still bloated from surgery. Your body is healing, give it time. It will definitely help when you can exercise again. Are you sure that you're really hungry and it's not just head hunger? It is definitely taking me some time to differentiate between the two. Good luck and hang in there!

Hi there. I had surgery on a Thursday and was back at my desk job on Tuesday. My port incision hurt the most, which makes sense, and I couldn't sleep on my side or bend certain ways at first. An icepack helped. I needed help getting up and out of bed for the first few days. Now it is still sore, but I am much more mobile. The recovery wasn't very painful at all. I had liquid Lortab and then I used liquid Tylenol when I felt I needed it. I would say the gas pain/bloating was the worst part -- lots of walking, Gas X strips and sipping/eating slowly helped that too. I am just a few days shy of three weeks post-op but so far, no regrets. I did have a moment of "what did I do to myself" when I ate something too quickly and bloated up, but that was my own fault. I have to learn how to live with the band now. :biggrin: Good luck with your decision!

Dejageel, it is way too early for a fill -- you're still healing. I've not yet seen a doctor that allowed mushies five days post-op but they are all different. Are you following your doctor's dietary requirements? Are you allowed protein shakes? You're probably not getting enough protein. I am supposed to get 60g a day and I find that as long as I hit that, I don't get hungry (except for "head hunger"). Talk to your doctor or nutritionist about feeling hungry. Good luck!

Definitely check with your doctor and/or nutritionist for requirements. Mine need to be no more than 170 calories per serving and at least 15g of Protein. I would second the recommendation for Atkins Advantage. I also like the EAS Advantage Carb Control. I can find both it and the Atkins shakes at my local Publix and Kroger. Designer whey Protein Powder isn't bad, either -- you can mix it into a lot of different things and it mixes easily with a spoon. You could also go to Vitalady.com and order samples of different brands and flavors if you like. I didn't care for most of the ones I got, unfortunately -- I needed a blender to mix and they could be chalky/gritty/overly sweet. I'm interested in the Profect "capsules" -- 25g of protein in less than 3 oz -- but I haven't found anywhere locally that sells them so I might get a sampler online. Good luck!

I'm sorry you're feeling badly. I can't tell you exactly when you'll feel better, just that you will eventually. The first few days aren't fun. Keep trying to get in those liquids, walk as much as you can, take your Gas X strips and take your pain meds. It will pass.

This weekend was a big deal for me. Friday night was the first time I'd eaten out in a restaurant since being banded. I had some egg salad and a bit of DH's milkshake (I know, that can't happen much -- I looked up the whole thing and it's 1000 calories, good thing I'd never drink it all!). Saturday...I went to visit my brother at college. We ate dinner out that night and I got something I'd had before because I knew I'd be able to eat a decent amount of it. I did leave all of the rice but I don't think that looked too odd. This morning I had a scare, though. We were at breakfast and I'd gotten scrambled eggs and grits. But the grits were really dry and thick (I always make them very wet and thin). One tiny bite hurt going down. At one point I thought, oh no, am I going to PB?!? But they went through. No more of them for me. I did mention that none of my family knows I'm banded, right? Yeesh. This is going to be tricky. Hopefully less so as time goes on...I still couldn't imagine telling any of them. There is so much drama and awful stuff happening in my family right now, more than I'd ever want to get into. :thumbup: On a different note I would recommend the cookbook "Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery." I made the baked BBQ chicken thighs and both my DH and I loved them -- the thigh and some of the sauce worked great in my food processor. I hadn't made my own BBQ sauce in years and this one was unique, it had apple cider and Asian chili paste with garlic in it. Countdown to first fill -- 16 days. I do get hungry now but I'm able to get satisfied watching my portion sizes and drinking the protein shakes. The food gets cold and I get bored and realize that I'm full. Crazy. Oh well, I have to get some work done. Yep, on a Sunday night. That's what happens when you freelance (I work a full-time job too).

This is an awesome idea. I have been to several showers and I'm not really a fan of the traditional games, but that might just be me. For the mom-to-be you could get some nice sparkling cider or juice so she doesn't feel too left out by everybody else drinking wine.