Search the Community

Well, it’s not about being “bad” or “cheating” on your diet. The dietary guidelines at this point are to make sure your stomach heals and prevent you from getting sick. There’s nothing magical about the one week or two week or six week point that change your stomach into the next phase. These times are based on how long most people take to heal to the point that they can handle different types of food. I personally hate vomiting, so I don’t want to do anything to take a chance of making myself sick. I started puréed foods today and my first food was 1 ounce of triple zero yogurt, eaten slowly with a baby spoon. If you eat foods before you can handle them, you’re taking the chance that your stomach might react badly and that will be the punishment. There’s no need to feel guilty on top of that. if you’re going to eat something you’re not supposed to, though, jerky is probably not the best choice since it is dry and tough. If you’ve really got to have meat, go with something soft like canned or slow-cooked chicken.

I had to do a 7 day pre op diet but for some stupid reason I decided to do mine a week early, if not for the sugar free jello pudding I was allowed to have I don't think I would have made it. I mostly just drowned myself in water when I felt hungry and if I felt really really hungry I went for the protein powder. I was also allowed to have 40oz of plain greek yogurt everyday and since I hate plain greek yogurt I added my favorite liquid crystal light to it and it was amazing.

I was told to drink 4 protein shakes per day for my liquid diet. I also had sugar free or fat free versions of pudding, Jello, popsicles, soup broth, gatorade, yogurt, and milk. While the total calories were not a lot, I got plenty of protein and nutrition. I never felt weak. With the liquid diet I lost 13 lbs in 2 weeks and 15 lbs. more by 2 weeks after surgery.

I'm drinking two protein shakes a day and I've been eating chicken and eggs mostly sometimes I’ll have tuna. I'm only allowed to have 2 ounces of protein at a time. And in between meals I’m supposed to have fruit and yogurt.

Sunday brunch out. Needed a break from cooking this week. Tried new excellent restaurant in town porch side. We ordered a sampling feast for plenty of leftovers. Shrimp + slivered cauliflower, date, kale, roasted almond salad with lemon vinaigrette. Classic Cuban sandwich with pineapple aioli. Chicken and red velvet waffles with spicy maple syrup + lemon yogurt. The best meal out in a very long time. I ate two shrimp and ¼ of the salad. Enjoyed the salad, shrimp and some chicken again for Monday's dinner. Hub's been eating the rest. ;]

I had laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery on July 9th and I'm down 12 pounds. Tonight I ate my 2nd non-liquid food since surgery and it seems I was able to consume too much. I had cream of wheat (3 Tbsp dry) 2 days ago and that was fine. Tonight I was able to finish a Chobani plain nf greek yogurt container. I thought the sleeve only allowed for 4 bites of food? I'm almost worried that something isn't right with my surgery and I paid cash. Should I be able to comfortably eat a container of non-fat Chobani?

My program wanted us on meal schedules so 8; 1 and 6 (keeping in mind a meal may be 2 oz of greek yogurt) and to always have water/fluid by us and to sip all day except for 30 mins after meals. They also had me on vitamins from my first day home which I thought was odd but I had no issues. The first couple of weeks I was also doing small walks 5 or 6 times a day since I couldn't go far. I did drive at day 3 to go pick my dogs up from the kennel. I wasn't on any pain meds and it was close so I had no issues.

I like benefiber too. it is flavorless in water. however, I have found that this is not enough and I still have issues.... I like to add ~1tbs chia seeds to my diet somehow, either in yogurt or blended in a protein shake. the combo of chia and benefiber is great and keeps me regular. I am admittedly not disciplined about getting in the chia even though I used to have double+ the dose pre-op pretty regularly. as everyone knows, it's tough adjusting post-op with all the meds, vitamins, protein, etc... but this thread is a reminder that I should really try harder with getting the chia in again....

tuna 8 days post-op sounds very early tbh, but check with your team. I waited about 2.5 weeks before I tried a salmon burger. it went down fine, but I had to go very slowly or else I had some chest pain. I was able to eat the whole patty over the course of 20-30 min but it was definitely heavy in my stomach. I tried canned tuna about 3 weeks in. again, it was tolerable. this early out I personally would stay away from tuna. you will probably not be able to eat much or even any of it anyway. the most solid food I was eating 8 days out was pudding, greek yogurt, or 4-5 spoons of cream of wheat....hadn't even moved on to cheese at that point. I know everyone is different, but it takes like 1-2 months for those staples to heal so advancing your diet too quickly can be dangerous. you will get through this! the first 2 weeks are the hardest. stay strong!

I'm almost 6 months post op from Loop DS. Here's some suggestions from me: If you crave pasta try Birds Eye veggie pasta. My favorite is the spinach lentil pasta in alfredo sauce and the zucchini lentil pasta in marinara. You add parm cheese salt and pepper to the alfredo one and split into three servings and you add a handful of shredded cheese and a little parm, salt and pepper to the marinara one and split into three servings. It's delicious! Also, cauliflower rice instead of regular rice because it doesn't have a flavor and low in carbs and whatever sauce you add onto it will soak it up, the only thing to get used to is the texture is quite different. I suggest making a stir fry with G.Hughes Terriyaki sauce because it has no sugar and you can't tell the difference (they sell it at Walmart and they also have a bbq sauce. I recommend the hickory flavor, it's delicious with rotisserie chicken). Sugar free pudding is a rare treat I allow myself when I'm craving chocolate. I also will allow myself no sugar added ice cream because it's lower carb, low sugar, and low sugar alcohol. I only buy it once every other week. I just recently in the last three weeks added lower sugar oatmeal into my diet (4g for most though one flavor has 5g and hilariously has less carbs than the original flavorless one... the have 21, 23, and 25 carbs for the flavored ones and 29 for regular -_-"). I eat cheese sticks, fruit cups (no sugar added ones), nuts, yogurt, cheese crisps and salsa, bellpepper and salsa, carrots and ranch dip, and the above mentioned pudding, and ice cream as snacks. Also, I suggest cauliflower pizza for pizza cravings. And my nutritionist allows me to have corn tortilla's so I have the occasional taco for lunch or two taquitos. I'm probably on slightly higher carbs than the average person though as my doctor wants me to have a MINIMUM of 15 carbs per meal (though she prefers 20-25) due to my chronic dizziness which they still don't know the cause of. I also had constipation issues and they thought it was the banana's I was eating as well as my iron intake so they told me to cut out the banana's and stop taking the iron for three days and then after three days cut it down to 2 iron multi's instead of 3. It cleared up only to start again once I started back on the iron so I stopped the iron for another three days and cut it down to 1 iron multi a day and two non-iron multi's and my blood work is perfect (other than a slight Vitamin A deficiency, but I'm on extra Vitamin A now so, it'll work out) and no more constipation issues since. Hope you figure out what works for you!

I just started week 5. Lost 17 pounds in the first 28 days. I tolerated liquids well so doctor gave OK to start puree on day 10 (instead of day 15) and soft foods a week later (day 17). At first I could only eat a couple of tablespoons of food (the entire day) but now can eat a full egg with some additional egg whites added. The amount you can eat will increase with time and will vary depending on what it is. I can eat about 5 oz of yogurt but only 3 oz of meat. I still drink a protein shake almost every day in order to meet my 60 gram daily protein requirement. I tried eating meat twice in one day to get in protein, boy did I pay a price. I felt miserable the entire evening and into the night. I keep my calorie count between 500-600 per day. Give your body time to adjust. And yes, food does taste good after having had just liquids for a couple of weeks.

I had my surgery on 6/29 too. I didn't poop for a week after, partly due to the fact there is very little fiber in liquids and partly due to the anesthesia that slows everything down. Now I take a psyllium capsule in the morning, make sure I drink at least 2 liters of fluid a day, and I added a probiotic and active culture yogurt to my diet. Some people use Colace or Miralax. If you are truly blocked that's a surgical emergency and you'll have severe pain, vomiting, cramping, and swelling in your abdomen.

So I had my surgery June 26th, and just past my 3rd week and only lost 1 pound. I am walking every day and have progressed up to 5k steps a day and not losing. I am in my puree phase and my typical day is a half an avocado, Greek yogurt, and tuna mashed. My snacks are a SF popsicle, SF jello, or unsweetened apple sauce. After surgery I was not able to drink the premier shakes as they induced nausea so I have been using an unflavored protein powder and mixing in a Zero powerade and water with crystal light. Not sure what I may be doing wrong and this Friday I start my soft food phase and not sure what my menu will be yet. Any help would be appreciated

I love to hike and was doing short hikes 3-4 days/week prior to surgery. i am still trying to get my energy levels up from surgery. I'm about a month out and still can't handle walking hills so I am worried about doing even a short hike. I used to eat a bowl of oatmeal or a substantial breakfast with carbs before my hike, but when I tried oatmeal post-op, I didn't tolerate it well. it made me very tired. I usually hike in the morning and now that I start my day with a protein shake or yogurt, I am worried that I won't have enough fuel in me to get up the mountain. I think packing a lot of healthy snacks and maybe a protein water would help. it's just annoying to have to stop to eat in the middle of a hike. maybe by next year you will be able to eat enough to get properly fueled and won't have to stop as much.

I’m not an RN yet but a monitor tech and work 1900-730. I usually eat like this- 1700- dinner at home usually lean protein and veggies (150 calories) 2100- protein shake or bar sometimes I skip this (100-150 calories) 2300- yogurt with fruit (usually blueberries) (100 calories) 0200- veggies and/or protein shake (50-150 calories) 0800- snack when I get home usually egg white or cheese stick with a veggie (75-150 calories) I usually get my liquid intake in between meals and usually hit 80+ not including protein shakes. Right now my calorie intake is aimed at 600-800 a day with at least 60g of protein. I’m usually pretty good about reaching those goals most days.

Hi Jen-I’m a former night shift nurse, now working days M-Th in a clinic, but occasionally pick up a Saturday night shift back in the ED. I plan my intake over 24 hours, from 0001-2359. I pre log in My Fitness Pal what I’m planning to eat for the day and bring all my food to work with me. When I was working nights my 24 hour period looked something like this: 0100 “lunch”, usually a Healthy Choice frozen meal 0500 “breakfast” Ooikos Triple Zero yogurt 1700 “dinner” Some sort of meat & veggie before heading in to work 2100 snack, usually a serving of nuts or pumpkin seeds and a small piece of fruit. I track Fluid too, but never had any trouble getting in 100+ ounces/day. I still don’t, I definitely have restriction after my sleeve as far as food goes but no problem drinking all I want and need.

Hello everyone! Yesterday was one month since surgery. I'm now eating normal food (mostly) in very teeny-tiny quantities. I eat itty-bitty meals about six times a day. Yogurt, cottage cheese, cooked chicken thighs, no-sugar-added juice, lunch meat, mashed potatoes, green beans, watermelon, cherries are all working out great, although lately I seem to get heartburn anytime I eat chicken. Yesterday and today I ate cereal for the first time. I had the Kashi version of Cheerios, only about 2 tablespoons worth, with about 1/4 cup of skim milk. It is a laughably tiny serving of cereal, but it caused me no problems and was very satisfying. In particular it was psychologically comforting because it felt so unbelievably normal. What a relief! I think early in this thread someone might have mentioned that they really needed to adjust their thinking. That pre-surgery, they had focused so much on food, and afterwards, only being able to eat a tiny bit and having to avoid certain things, it forced them to realign their thinking and their priorities. I am finding it SO TRUE. I'm pretty sure I'm not getting 64 oz of fluids a day, but I'm getting enough to not be dehydrated. I'm surely not reaching 70g of protein most days, but protein DOES still make up the majority of my diet, and I feel pretty good. I'm continuing to lose a few pounds a week, which really amazes me. My husband says my face looks thinner, and I can tell my pants are much looser. Still having some issues with constipation, but that's a lot better since I switched to the vitamin without iron. I take colace a few days a week, which helps a bit. I have learned to hate my calcium chews. Taking them is no problem, but they cause a bad taste in my mouth for hours afterwards, and even drinking water doesn't get rid of it. Also I'm cold ALL the time! Has anyone else noticed a change in body temperature or comfort level? It's so weird. Hope you're all hanging in there.

It has been very different for me. I didnt feel any restriction after the revision. It was also more painful for me but I had a hiatal hernia repair also. I was given yogurt and strained soup in the hospital the same day as surgery.

I'm about 2.5 years out. I can pretty much eat anything, just in smaller quantities I can eat 1 egg and 1 piece of toast, that's it I can eat 1 cup of old-fashioned oatmeal I can eat 1 individual serving size container of yogurt (I eat Skyr and mix in chia seeds, 1 TBSP Unjury, and 1 TBSP granola) I can eat half of just about any sandwich (maybe more if it's sandwich bread, but definitely half for bun-type sandwiches)(I DO NOT eat "sub" sandwiches, nor have I tried) I can eat 1 piece of regular sliced pizza. I can eat 1 taco (hard shell and soft shell varieties) and maybe have room for a couple bites of rice/beans. I can eat about a cup of any meal for dinner (this includes separate meat or a casserole-type. Even pasta.) If I'm having a soup/salad combo, I can eat about 1/2 cup of soup and sometimes half of the sandwich (depending on who made the sandwich) I can eat about 1-1.5 cup of a tossed salad as long as I don't have too many "fixins" on it like meat and I don't do croutons. I can eat 1 small apple, banana or about a cup cubed melon/fresh pineapple/etc. That's only if I'm eating it alone. If I'm eating it with a meal/as my dessert, maybe a couple bites. I can eat much more popcorn than I care to admit. It's like it dissolves in my belly and next thing I know I've eaten like 3 cups. So, I portion it out and when I empty my portion/container, I'm done. I CAN drink small sips of soda, but I don't. Same goes for champagne. (which I REALLY like as a Mimosa) I can eat about 1 cup of ice cream (hard and soft varieties), then I hit my STOP point. And overall, I still have to eat pretty slowly. If I go into auto-pilot and start shoving things in my mouth to quickly or don't chew fairly well, I have pain/discomfort.

About Me: Pre Weight: 200lbs Height: 5”3 Post Weight: 120 (4 yrs later). Lost all my weight in the 1st year. Lowest 117, looked very sick, couldnt barely eat. Slowly got up to 128 my highest oct 2019. Then lost 8-10 lbs when started working. So my question is, what is your diet like? Calorie Intake, foods you tolerate, can”t tolerate, meal plan, how much can you eat. Me: Main things I eat 2 Toast, Egg, Cheese sandwhich, but yet I get full from just having 1/2 porkchop; Im talking the size if my palm in half by itself Weird! I used to be able to eat lots of popcorn when I could have it. Now I can barely finish a typucsl medium popcorn. I can drink pop no problem 2-3 Slices Pizza: (Depends on size) I can eat a pack of oatmeal with peanut butter. Only that. Can do coffees Can’t do Ice caps! Major sugar dump. and i cant tolerate ice cream any more can do yogurts umm typical meal: 1/4 - 1/2c Carbs, and for meats 3sm meatballs, 1 Thigh, 5 pieces of chicken fries by itself). can do half chicken breast with 1/4-1/2c rice I still dont or know how to get the carb/protein and vegetables. I just have room for the carbs/meat. Which is fine because i hate alot of veggies. And fruits; I have in smoothies; I can do around 8-16oz, depends on what I make. so in short, I still cant eat alot at once but i get hungry every 2 hours, i can do 3 if i am not working, and just being home or out and about since i cant fit in the veggies, if i didnt would be like 1/4-1/2 meat, 1/4-1/2c Pasta, potatoe, rice, and then like 2 broccoli. Whats the point if the broccolli then, especially if i favor favor the carbs and protein before tge veggies. Waste if time to cook 2-3 broccollis.. I try and get veggies in by juicing, but its a battle. So far i only like green veggies to juice. I would never eat celery, cucumber, spinach, but it took me a while to build up to be able to drink it soooo what about you?

Just a quick question, with no simple answer, I'm sure. I'm just wondering what my protein goal should be? My doctor said 70gr. it the goal, but that was right after surgery. Does your goal change as you move later into Sleeve life? I easily get 70gr. daily just eating healthy with Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, beef, chicken etc. But I also run 5K every day. This drops the protein in my blood. I know this because I donate Plasma, and have been deferred often for low protein. So, I bumped my protein intake to between 140gr. and 160gr. (on really good days). Still I struggle to keep my protein within range. So, anyone else going through something similar? Is there anything I can eat that will help with absorption? Is there a "golden" number I should be looking for? Seems like everyone else is getting far less protein than I am... are your labs still coming back good? Thanks in advance for any advice. PS -> Yes, that is a ton of protein, and always a struggle. Also, yes, eating that much protein has helped me to gain back some weight, about 15lbs.

Because I was at goal and having the revision because of intractable GERD, the dietary instructions for RNY really don't apply to me. The texture progression does, liquid to pureed to soft to regular food, but the caloric advice doesn't. So I scouted around on the web. Gastrectomy and intestinal rerouting has been done a long time for GI cancers. There is a surgery called a Billroth II that is almost the same as RNY so I have been following dietary guidelines for them--whole milk and full fat yogurt, mashed potatoes with small amounts of butter, basically avoiding low-fat and low-sugar options without taking in so much fat and sugar that I might dump. We'll see how it works, I only weigh myself once a week and there are a few more days to go. Last night I woke up at 2 am and had to pee. When I got back in bed, my abdomen, inside and out, ached and throbbed. I have no idea what happened, maybe I twisted getting out of bed. I tried to deep breathe enough to relax and go back to sleep but couldn't. I ended up taking half an oxycodone (2.5 mg). Tylenol probably would have worked but it was in the bathroom and the oxycodone was in the drawer of the nightstand. First painkiller of any kind I've taken since July 5.

first of all, yes, being really nervous before surgeries is pretty normal. secondly, if you can lose the weight on your own, then go for it. Up to about 5% of people are able to lose their excess weight and keep it off long term. I, unfortunately, was not one of the 5%. I had surgery at age 55, after literally decades of losing and regaining the same 50 lbs. Same story every time - I'd lose it, hit a brick wall, and then it'd eventually all come back on - within a few months. I finally got to the point where I had to stop kidding myself. I couldn't even keep 50 lbs off, and I had over 200 to lose! So for me, surgery was really my only choice. Maybe you'll be one those who'll be able to do it and keep it off. There are some out there. And btw - surgery doesn't guarantee you'll be able to lose most or all of your excess weight and keep it off - but it greatly improves your odds. not sure what to tell you about protein. I only eat meat a couple of times a week, but I do eat a lot of dairy (including yogurt and cottage cheese). I also add protein powder to some things. In addition, I still drink protein shakes, at five years out, because they help me get up to my protein goals (most people don't need them after the first few weeks or months - but I have to have 100+ grams a day to keep my prealbumin level up, and a protein shake a day really helps me get there) you do have to be mentally ready for this, because the surgery only does so much. It's a lot of work, esp after the first few months. But the difference is, your efforts actually pay off. I was able to lose - and maintain - and enormous amount of weight, which I'd never been able to do before.

Hi everyone, I posted this on two other forums but I thought I'd post here too. I'm having my bypass next Wednesday, 7/22. I was calm for the most part until the past few days, when I started getting nervous, but that was the nervous that I'm assuming everyone feels when surgery gets close. For some background, I'm 22 years old, 5'1, and started working towards surgery in October of last year at 260 pounds. As of today, I'm 50 pounds down, and that's of course on my own, before having surgery. Yesterday, I started having serious second thoughts. These normal nervous thoughts had me wondering if I could do it on my own since I've been able to lose 50 pounds by myself before surgery, and I keep telling myself I worked hard for this, and surgery is right around the corner, and if I didn't think I needed it, I wouldn't have started the program in the first place. Like I said, I was calm until a few days ago, but yesterday it really started hitting me. I started getting the feeling that I'll be unsuccessful with the surgery. Most, if not all, programs require a high-protein diet after surgery, including my own program. My issue is, I'm an extremely picky eater. I'm a vegetarian, and while I'm not totally vegan since I'll eat products containing milk and eggs, I prefer not to eat (or drink) those things if I can avoid it. So aside from not eating meat, I don't eat cheese or regular eggs prepared in any way (if I try I will not be able to stomach it). I also am grossed out by tofu. This honestly leaves my only options for Protein for the rest of my life to be Protein Drinks and yogurt (which I would prefer not to eat all the time, it's not my favorite thing). My nutritionist said lentils and Beans are ok, but they have a lot of starch so to eat other things if I can. I'm on my pre-op diet so that means I'm stuck on my protein drinks and yogurt for now, and after talking with my nutritionist a few times yesterday, the nerves I was already feeling worsened, and I started having normal doubts to real second thoughts. I was wondering if I'm actually cut out for this kind of surgery since I know I can't keep up with the protein that I'm being asked to eat, and I'm not sure I can compromise since I already know I won't be able to handle things like eggs, cheese, and tofu. If this kind of thing relies on me eating protein all the time, what kind of success can I have if I'm not able to do that? Yes, it'll physically restrict me from overeating, at least for the first year or two, but I'm afraid of a stall after only losing a small amount, or regaining the weight and having gone through all of it for nothing. I'm also thinking how if I lost 50 lbs on my own, I could try to lose the other 100 lbs on my own too, even if it's not the rapid weight loss that the bypass would give me. Like I noted earlier, though, I wouldn't have started this program in the first place if I didn't feel like I needed to go through it and wouldn't have worked so hard to make sure it happens. I'm 22 years old, should I wait a couple of years since I'm having these thoughts and try things out on my own and see how things go with that? Or should I go through with surgery next week? I have no idea between my doubts and the hard work I went through.

Hi everyone, I'm having my bypass next Wednesday, 7/22. I was calm for the most part until the past few days, when I started getting nervous, but that was the nervous that I'm assuming everyone feels when surgery gets close. For some background, I'm 22 years old, 5'1, and started working towards surgery in October of last year at 260 pounds. As of today, I'm 50 pounds down, and that's of course on my own, before having surgery. Yesterday, I started having serious second thoughts. These normal nervous thoughts had me wondering if I could do it on my own since I've been able to lose 50 pounds by myself before surgery, and I keep telling myself I worked hard for this, and surgery is right around the corner, and if I didn't think I needed it, I wouldn't have started the program in the first place. Like I said, I was calm until a few days ago, but yesterday it really started hitting me. I started getting the feeling that I'll be unsuccessful with the surgery. Most, if not all, programs require a high-protein diet after surgery, including my own program. My issue is, I'm an extremely picky eater. I'm a vegetarian, and while I'm not totally vegan since I'll eat products containing milk and eggs, I prefer not to eat (or drink) those things if I can avoid it. So aside from not eating meat, I don't eat cheese or regular eggs prepared in any way (if I try I will not be able to stomach it). I also am grossed out by tofu. This honestly leaves my only options for Protein for the rest of my life to be Protein Drinks and yogurt (which I would prefer not to eat all the time, it's not my favorite thing). My nutritionist said lentils and Beans are ok, but they have a lot of starch so to eat other things if I can. I'm on my pre-op diet so that means I'm stuck on my protein drinks and yogurt for now, and after talking with my nutritionist a few times yesterday, the nerves I was already feeling worsened, and I started having normal doubts to real second thoughts. I was wondering if I'm actually cut out for this kind of surgery since I know I can't keep up with the protein that I'm being asked to eat, and I'm not sure I can compromise since I already know I won't be able to handle things like eggs, cheese, and tofu. If this kind of thing relies on me eating protein all the time, what kind of success can I have if I'm not able to do that? Yes, it'll physically restrict me from overeating, at least for the first year or two, but I'm afraid of a stall after only losing a small amount, or regaining the weight and having gone through all of it for nothing. I'm also thinking how if I lost 50 lbs on my own, I could try to lose the other 100 lbs on my own too, even if it's not the rapid weight loss that the bypass would give me. Like I noted earlier, though, I wouldn't have started this program in the first place if I didn't feel like I needed to go through it and wouldn't have worked so hard to make sure it happens. I'm 22 years old, should I wait a couple of years since I'm having these thoughts and try things out on my own and see how things go with that? Or should I go through with surgery next week? I have no idea between my doubts and the hard work I went through.