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i Haven't been in here for a long time but wanted to respond to this post. Firstly, I am no angel in the eating department but have found that the more fat I eat, the more I fart and they stink. When I keep the fat in my day lower, it is 100% more controlled. Fat also has a tremendous effect on poo. It tends to pass right thru so the more fat you eat, the more runny and stinky the poo. Don't get me wrong. The poo smell is revolting but I find the better I eat, say with a lot of vegetables in the day, I'm in a much better position. I eat dairy but too much makes me extremely gassy. So if I want an ice cream or frozen yogurt, I'll follow the first spoon with a chaser of lactaid tablet!

Surgeons seem to have big differences in their recommended post-op diet. I was one week clear liquids, one week full liquids, one week purees, one week soft, then normal. I really enjoyed adding yogurt and cottage cheese at the puree stage. Egg drop soup is a good way to eat an egg before you get to the soft stage. Not a whole lot of high protein foods out there to choose from!

Update for me: I’m 14 days post op and finally graduated to full liquid. That means yogurts, pudding, blended soups, and shakes I can make myself. 7 more days and then mushies. The most exciting thing, however, was I just took my last shot. 2 weeks of shots 2x a day in the stomach was awful. I haven’t weighed myself. I know I’ve lost some, but I won’t weigh myself until my 1st post op next week. Trying not to obsess over #s which I know I will do. The last 2 weeks have been very hard. Finally started to be more regular, getting some strength up; and being able to eat a few more things is pretty awesome. My program seems to be one of the very strict ones, which I’m told is because the surgeon makes things smaller and tighter than others (I guess). And he uses what seems like a ton of preventative meds. On the good side - I’ve had very little pain. Constipation was OMG for the 1st week - like epically awful, but I’ve had no trouble drinking water, getting my 64+ oz in plus 75g protein so I’m thankful for that. I’ve started to get more burpy in the last few days - hoping that subsided at some point. But overall, I’m in so much better Spirits today then I was even a few days ago. For anyone else struggling; it gets better 7 more days until the next progress point

After 10 days post OP I went from liquids to puree. Liquids: shakes, sugar free or fat free versions of pudding, Jello, popsicles, Soup broth, gatorade, yogurt, milk. Puree: eggs, melted cheese or string cheese, mashed potatoes, bananas, peanut butter, applesauce, lean ground meats like turkey, and cooked carrots. Cheese and potatoes are not foods you want to plan to eat everyday in your future diet plan. The Puree stage is short so I had one string cheese stick everyday. I only had mashed potatoes once.

Just had surgery on June 29th... 1 day post op. Feeling a little discomfort. Drank 4 oz of protein shake! Then they brought me some broth and a yogurt ! I could barely drink the shake!!!! Aughhhh

Sometimes it is difficult to find foods you enjoy eating at this stage. Your changed taste buds & the texture of some purées make eating unpleasant. Some things are just plain disgusting. I ate a lot of soups during this stage with shakes - usually a 1/2 cup of soup & a shake each day - sipping slowly over the day. My doctor & dietician wasn’t concerned about minimum protein levels at this stage. That changed once I got into the soft food stage. Try to purée a poached chicken breast with chicken stock & gravy. I also puréed mince & vegetables (cooked for ages). Scrambled eggs, mashed boiled egg, very mushy rolled oats & yogurts also worked for me. Good luck.

Hi everyone! I hope that you all are staying safe and doing well. Since I'm taking some days off, I thought that I would catch up and touch base. I think I was among the last of the people whose surgery went as scheduled before everything shut down due the Coronavirus. What a different world we live in today. I do hope that those individuals who were scheduled in late March and in April had their surgeries re-scheduled -- don't give up! I'm here to tell you that it IS worth it in the end! I'm well on my journey to a transformed life and I would like to share my experiences to date. So far, I'm down 63 lbs. from when I started this journey and 70 lbs. from my highest weight. When I look in the mirror, sometimes I can hardly believe that I'm even doing this, but I am! My blood pressure has improved to near normal most days and my BMI has gone from 43 to 35. Also, I'm coming up on the halfway point of my journey! Because I see these questions asked often (and believe me, I had many of same questions myself), I will give my account from my personal experience. Pre-Op Following the instructions of your doctor does make a difference. I managed to lose about 20 pounds from October 2019 - March 2020 -- the more you lose, the better for your surgery. Strictly adhere to your 2 week liquid phrase and drink your water! Surgery My surgery was scheduled for March 17th and then it got pushed back to March 18th (I think my surgeon had scheduled a long weekend because he does his surgeries on Tuesdays). However because elective surgeries was due to be shut down during that week due to COVID-19, it was returned to the original date and my surgery was the first of the day. In addition to the by-pass, I had a hiatal hernia repair. The surgery took longer than normal because I was a bleeder (whatever that means) and scar tissue from when I had my gallbladder removed many years ago. But the Dr. and his team did their thing and it was a success. Post-ops was a bit disorientating and I was in a bit of discomfort, but by the time I was wheeled to my room, I was fully alert. What I didn't like: Not having anything to drink for 24 hours! That sucked. When I was able to drink, I could only have a few sips at a time. I had to do breathing exercises (in a little breathing tube thingy which was not a bad idea given COVID-19 was starting to get out there) and hours later, I got myself up and walked. I was determined to get up and walk! What you must do: You must get out of the bed and WALK! I stress that because when I had my gallbladder surgery, I stayed in the bed (it was done the old fashioned way where they hack you in 2 to get it out and I was in the hospital for a week) and did not get up until it was time for me to go home. Talk about the gas and the pain! Whew! I was not trying to feel all that again, so I got up and walked. Basically, post-op, I was fine and did well. 2 Weeks Post-op (Liquid/Strained food Phase) I didn't have much of an appetite and I did struggle getting in the protein. I mostly tried to get in the fluids first and foremost. My sis made me a LOT of ginger tea and that helped and I walked around the apartment and did a little walk outside. Soft Food Phase So for me, once I started eating food again -- my appetite came ROARING BACK! I mean roaring back and that caused some problems when I got into the regular food phase. I'm not a dairy person, so it was a struggle for me to eat eggs, cheese -- I just couldn't do the plain yogurt (yuck). I did manage to have some chili and beans, but I don't like beans either! Somehow, I got thru it though. Regular Food Phase You want to test drive your pouch? So here is what NOT to do: DO.NOT.OVEREAT. Because I wasn't one of those people who had to force themselves to eat due to a lack of appetite, I had to do a LOT of trial and error before my brain clicked. What I wish I had done: I asked my bari-nutritionist if I should get any special tools and she said no -- yet if I had to do it all over again, I would have purchased the bariatric plates and flatware. Even though I was using small plates, the servings were still not small enough -- typically out of prior habits -- and I would go to eat, then suddenly I felt food stuck in my throat and I wanted to throw up (but I couldn't). After that happened more than a few times, my brain finally got itself together and realized what was going on. I also was not used to leaving food on my plate -- like EVER. I was forcing myself to finish eating even though my body was giving me clear signals that I was DONE. Also, you learn very quickly which foods you can eat fine and others that you can't (Of course it's all of things that I like to eat...); those foods you have to eat in little portions. Suddenly I found myself (GASP!) throwing food in the trash! Who knew! Me! Being full and leaving fricking food on the plate and throwing it away! What!?!?!?! Yep, that's what Bari-by pass will do to you! Now I make smaller portions up front and I make sure that I eat the protein before I get full. I tend to eat only when I get hungry and when I'm full, I'm DONE. That is a big change from before when I kept right on eating and eating and eating and -- well, you get the drift. Continuing Challenge: Getting the water in. At best, I get 1 liter in/day. Between my heavy work load and knowing that I can't eat and drink at the same time anymore and I can only drink so much at one time! -- I have to choose on most days whether I'm concentrating on getting the water in or getting the protein in. That is a work in progress. I finally was able to get in a long walk today - 5 mi. I just have to go early in the morning to avoid the folk who don't wear masks, but it was great and I hope to re-start my walking routine (it will be a long moment before I return to a gym). So, if you have any questions, ask away!

my surgeon's office seems to semi-promote halo top, but I am thinking I will stay away since it gave me upset stomach before surgery, so I can't imagine it would go down well post-op. also, most of the flavors taste like crap, and it never really satisfied my ice cream craving anyway. that said, it seems like it the least of all evils if you are desperately craving ice cream and are far out enough. my nutritionist guidelines also recommended Yasso bars as early as second week post-op. They are frozen greek yogurt bars and have 6g of protein. I was able to find this at the grocery store, and I really like them.

I can eat the yogurt, cheese, applesauce, & mashed potatoes. I haven’t really ventured out with trying different foods yet. I made a mango sorbet yesterday with just chopped frozen mangos & a little splash of almond milk. I ate the entire thing, probably like 6oz. I’m getting tired of yogurt so I have to think of other things to make. I’m also vegetarian so I definitely have to think of foods to eat.

Your getting close to the end of the puree diet. Right now, check if these are OK: soft scrambled eggs, non-fat yogurt, banana, applesauce, string cheese, low-fat ricotta cheese, peanut butter, mashed potatoes. You'll be able to eat soft foods soon such as meatballs and chili. These can be prepared with turkey. I am on the soft food diet now. I'll admit I had a couple of small slices of homemade from scratch pizza. Crust was prepared with whole wheat flour. It was a special occasion (Father's Day) but I don't plan to have pizza more than once every three months. We're making fish, chicken noodle soup, beef barley soup, and stir fry beef and broccoli. This is a good time to reevaluate meal planning for your weight loss journey.

Ice tea, coffee, pickles, coleslaw, salad, fruit salad, deconstructed burgers/sandwiches, lettuce bun burgers/sandwiches yogurt, cottage cheese, chili, etc...

I like mixing oikos triple zero yogurt with PEScience protein powder and putting it in the freezer 30 minutes, mix it again (freeze more if you want it more ice cream like) and this gets you a nice amount of protein for low calories. I use half scoop but you could use one scoop and thin it with a little milk (I like using unsweetened ripple milk some use fair life) I like using either peanut butter banana yogurt or banana yogurt an peanut butter cookie protein powder. I use a little sola low carb granola. Skinny girl jelly and sugar free land o lakes whipped cream. The way I make it it’s 35 grams protein. 1oikos triple zero + 1 scoop would = 220 calories, 39 grams protein also Remember calculate your base protein 0.36 grams protein per 1lb body weight. Minimum. Unless you are exercising heavily that’s fine. I had gotten this interesting article about drinking water https://www.realsimple.com/health/drinking-too-much-water Also I’ve read fair life skim milk helps you stay hydrated with the added benefit of protein ... Link for PEScience http://rwrd.io/c6uus2e

@Starflower i am the same. I fought my carb and sugar addiction for so long and even that didn’t prove enough until I had gastric bypass surgery. So I am terrified of falling backwards. I was in hospital for surgery and they kept wanting to serve me carbs laden foods! I had a small bowl of oatmeal when I had no choice and it was the only soft food I could stomach. But for me I feel carbs fuel my metabolic disorders and the addiction as well. You need to listen to yourself. Nutrition doesn’t need to come from traditional carbs. ive allowed myself a little low carb granola on my yogurt, a manzano banana, sometimes a pear. There’s ways to get nutrition and not lose more weight without adding carbs. I can’t add much you got great answers but I do understand how you feel.

Here's the version that I'm really enjoying right now: 2/3 cup silken tofu (or 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt) 3 - 5 chipotles in adobo sauce, to taste 1 tbsp adobo sauce (from the jar of chipotles) 1/2 cup chunky red salsa 1 - 2 tbsp tahini or cashew butter, optional (for creaminess) 1/4 red onion, roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic, peeled 1/2 lime, juiced 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder pinch of stevia, maple syrup, or other sweetener, to taste pinch of salt, optional black pepper to taste, optional Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth-ish (start with 3 chipotles and add more as needed, to taste). Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. If the sauce is too thick, thin it out with more lime juice. If it’s too thin, add more silken tofu/yogurt. Great on tacos, burritos, bowls, casseroles, and over salads. Stores in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. Makes about 2/3 cup.

Fairlife milk and 2 scoops of PB Fit . I only use 1 scoop of PB Fit but I think a serving is 2 ? Greek yogurt some brands have 15 grams of protein. Have you ever tried protein water ? Hope you are getting to move forward now with all that you have been through.

As noted, diets, pre- and post-op vary significantly. We were on purees and soft foods in the hospital, while others will have to wait some weeks for that. The prospect of the pureed lettuce that they served there kinda turned me off to the thought of pureed anything (lol) so, with the flexibility of our program, I never did, but just danced around the issue between the various liquids, mushies and soft things that we could eat. Yogurts, oatmeal, cream of wheat, puddings (made with protein powder) eggs and soft cheeses should do the trick. For specifics on what exactly is allowed for you, that's specific to your doctor's program and they should provide you with guidance as to what exactly they consider "pureed" and what they expect at this time.

My program is no fluids 10 minutes before meals and 30 minutes after and I can definitely tell if I drink too soon. It hurts and backs up on me. However, during the liquid stage I didn't have "meals" per se but fluid goals to meet, so I drank whatever went down that got me to my goals. Within 6 hours of surgery I could drink 1 ounce of protein fluid and 1 ounce of water, at the same time, every 15 minutes. I always took my meds with protein fluids to "coat" my stomach. Now in purees (started 2 weeks out), I follow 3 meals and 2 snacks with water all day between. Protein shake for breakfast and a lot of cottage cheese, greek yogurt, hummus, eggs, and pureed meats and pureed steamed veggies. I can eat way more volume than predicted in a sitting, though, and can drink 20 ounces of water in 45 minutes. I drink 70 to 90 ounces of water a day and get around 80 grams of protein. I have atypical GERD where it only flares with my asthma, but also mild gastritis so I'm on omeprazole for 3 months. I feel "hungry" a lot but often find that I am actually thirsty (or its head hunger and habit/boredom). I also bought some antacid chews and find 1-2 of those a day really cut down on the sharp feeling in my stomach. My doc says that the hunger and larger volume per meal will steadily decrease the more I move away from puree to soft to regular as solid food is more filling per volume. I've had a breakfast shake for years, so I will keep that to help with my protein goal but really hope to stop wanting to eat because I feel hungry soon. Plus it will be easier to make fewer separate meals when cooking for the family.

Are you taking a cooler? I'd probably go the yogurt/jello/pudding type route for beach food at 3 weeks out. You can buy those in small containers that you can easily throw in a cooler. Also, I see little single serve applesauce packs at the store - those would work if you don't have a cooler. Take some cheese or cottage cheese or a boiled egg for some protein - yogurt can also be good for that.

So I was sleeved exactly 2 weeks ago and many of the things I bought in preparation have gone untouched or I just dont like them anymore. You'll read that many peoples taste preferences change, that may not happen to you, but there is no point in buying a heap of stuff until you know you can tolerate it or like. There are of course a few staples that most people do ok with aside from a protein shake, a good quality bone broth would be next on my list for the first week or so. Yogurt is another, cottage cheese... then eggs as we progress... I skipped the whole jello/pudding fiasco since I'm not a fan of encouraging a sweet tooth (thats not to say it wont work for you.) Brisk walking was not a problem for me even 3 or 4 days out. Jogging on the other hand is not on the horizon for me anytime soon. I suspect this is going to be dictated more by the incisions rather than the sleeve since those are felt with any movement far more than your sleeve is. Biggest problem for me has been getting a good nights sleep, I have insomnia at the best of times and always sleep on my side. Some can do that very early on, for me I get a weird pulling sensation when on my side. Best of luck.

Bone broth, protein shakes, tuna fish, eggs, fat free greek yogurt.

@Groovymommy @It's time. @Lily66 and All! How are you feeling today? I'm doing well. Still pretty weak. Each morning now I have the squirts which is kind of a depleting way to start the day. Can't tell if it's the artificial sweetener or maybe the whey protein doing it. So I'm cutting out the AS today and reducing the whey trying to make up for the grams of pro in plain fat free greek yogurt. Getting 48 fluids and 40 pro isn't easy. That's been my goal for weeks 2-4 and I'm not sure I've achieved both in the same day. My incisions are still hurting. Sometimes they ache horribly. Other times it's a dull muscle thing. But, drinking water is easier each day. My vitamins seem to be going down well (a real worry). The family left for a canoe trip and won't be back until late Sunday so all I'm responsible for is myself and the animals. Hoping to get my pro and liquids up and increase my energy. Sleep is a stranger. I get about 2 sessions of 3 hours a night. But better than nothing. Each new food tastes like heaven. Sent my 88 year old dad (who lives 15 minutes away) a Father's Day box of overnighted Lobster rolls and Whoopie pies from Maine. All the fixings. He called and practically begged me to come share them with him. It was so hard to tell him no. I told him I was on a physician directed diet that was very strict. My father is old and set in his ways and does not admire heavy women. So of course he was very supportive of my new "diet". ((eye roll)) But it was hard to say no. I do love a fresh lobster roll. Check in when you have a moment! ONWARD!!

I can sympathize - I did self-pay, and they move faster than insurance pay because there's not so many hoops to jump through. Plus I ended up moving the date sooner by a month and a half after I started hearing coronvirus whispers. I got my surgery less than 2 months after I decided to do it. My advice is to figure out what you're going to eat after the surgery. After the surgery, you're going to be in pain for a couple of weeks, and more tired than usual for 2 weeks to a few months. You won't want to spend too much mental energy on food. So try out some protein drinks/powders, sugar free jello and pudding, sugar free yogurt, broths and soups and stock your pantry. You'll be on a liquid diet for ~2 weeks (depending on your surgeon's diet plan), though most people continue to use protein drinks for quite a while. You'll also need to think about what you'll want to eat during the puree/soft food stages. Look at some bariatric recipes if you're the cooking type. But be warned - many people's tastes change after the surgery. A protein drink you liked before may seem, for example, overly sweet afterwards. So try a variety, and keep them around even if you didn't like them at first, just in case. It's a good time to check your equipment too. You'll need a blender if you use protein powders and mix your own drinks or to puree soups with chunks and other things. And a lot of people like to use mini plates and utensils to help them take smaller bites and feel more satisfied. I also bought a thermos that could keep food warm for a while, so if I cooked something hot, I'd make enough to put aside for another meal later.

btw - the sugar free fudgesicles are 40 calories each, so if you think you're the type who'll eat half a box at one sitting, then don't get them! I like them, but a box of 20 (or however many are in a box) easily lasts two or three months in my freezer. I just get a taste for chocolate once in awhile and I'll eat one or two of them - tops. sometimes when I crave chocolate, I'll mix a teaspoon or two of unsweetened cocoa powder into a container of Light & Fit Vanilla yogurt. That's still 80 calories (well, maybe 85 with the cocoa), but you get all the protein, too.

Let's make it true. All I can currently think about are those chocolate almond coconut balls sold in bulk at Costco. My brain keeps thinking "Not yet but soon." and I keep saying "mmmm.no. Not so soon." One day at a time is my motto. Happy Graduation to 3 months! I want to speed up time, for sure. Made a smoothie with greek yogurt and half a banana (which is NOT on my ok list but seems to be on other people's) and some unsweetened chocolate Almond milk. It was good and seems to be settling ok even with my Bariatric One a Day multi taken with it. I'm calling this a win!

Thanks All. I am not a big meat eater - I just don't like most of it. I've been living off of various chicken dishes and greek yogurt, protein shakes, etc... My "go to's" include: Ground chicken, beans, onion and taco seasoning: or sliced chicken breasts, various peppers, onion and fajita seasoning; I also do chicken PIccatta only with almond flour instead of bread crumbs. I'll take a look at the body builder sites and see what I can find. I am doing some carbs but am trying to be careful as I could easily live on nothing but carbs if it was just about taste I will definitely look at the costco chicken skewers! We don't have Albertsons here (we did where I grew up) and my local deli/meat case isn't nearly so nice! I may have to shake up my routine and try some other stores. I will have to try that Turkey strawberry salad. It sounds amazing!!! Thanks again all! Lori