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I weigh and measure my food and count calories. I log it all on a web site. Here is the plan I used when I was losing. 4 oz of meat (by weight). Depends on density, if its steak, I usually have 2 oz but if its fish I have 4. 1/2 of a measuring cup of veggies 1/4 of a measuring cup of starch Plus I break it down further by these maximum calorie counts Breakfast 250 Snack 150 lunch 250 Snack 150 dinner 250 For a snack to qualify for the list it should have 1g of Protein for every 10 calories, ie. Greek Yogurt 140 calories, 14 g protein.

LOL! as soon as I started my second week out this last Sunday I had this same freak out moment! I didn't think I would ever be able to eat normal food again! I posted a "Will I ever eat again" topic and got some really good feed back, you should check it out =) I quickly got over this and now I can have cottage cheese, yogurt, etc so I am doing much better. I think the pre and post op liquid diet combined with seeing your family eating (doesn't even have to be bad food, just FOOD!) doesn't help either. I just wanted to chew something so bad Sunday. I have upped my protein and water intake, had to get whey protein "bullets" to help get the protein in. If I have to look at or smell another protein shake... BLECH! the bullets aren't all that much better, they are super sweet and have a weird aftertaste, but they are 43 gr protein in only 3.8oz. which is better than 3 11oz protein shakes daily. I am now on day 11 post op and doing much better! Good luck! You will feel better once this week passes =)

I was sleeved last Thursday and had been enjoying the daily weight loss until yesterday when I didn't lose anything and am UP a pound today! (now i realize it might not be a big deal to some but it is to me.....i didnt go throigh this to gain weight back!). Not sure if it's my body going into starvation mode or what it is.....I've been trying to eat properly but I have a hard time getting in ENOUGH calories. My protein has been sufficient....2 protein shakes (40g/per) plus food. Breakfast I usually have half cup if lucky of cream Of wheat w/coconut milk, snack protein drink, 1/4 cream soup 1/4 coconut milk for lunch, protein drink for dinner & plain Greek yogurt/coconut milk for dinner....feeling really discouraged today. I realize I'm just a week out and HAVE lost weight but why the GAIN? My calories are barely 500/day if that depending what I eat! Any suggestions appreciated. Im going to try & walk more but it's going to be 100 degrees today so might not get too far today!

My fill nurse told me to go to the cafe in the hospital after my fill and eat some yogurt. He said the yogurt should go down easy without feeling it come up or without a struggle. Even if you have some swelling it you should be able to get some thick liquid down. Call your doctor.

So excited that all of a sudden this week I am tolerating more food. Still not getting in necessary calories, but I can now tolerate yogurt and cottage cheese. Protein drinks are good too and I can finally eat 1/4-1/3 cup of food per meal for at least 2 meals a day. Adding a third tomorrow. I'm even getting more and more fluids in everyday. But here's the best part: My daughter gave me a hug yesterday and backed up and said, " What's that?" I looked at her funny and she lifted my shirt and pressed on my rib. Then she said "I've never felt that before. I'm so proud of you mommy."

Oh my gosh you guys can eat way more than I can and I'm 6 weeks Post-op. I have a 6oz. protein shake for breakfast Unjury since I'm more tight. Lunch is a South Beach wrap kit or even home made food 1 cup or less (chili, split pea soup, or meat ball w/sauce) one snack which is an once or two of hummus a few tiny pretzels or pudding cup/4oz yogurt. Dinner is about 2-3 oz protein and 2-3 oz carb. before bed herbal tea or sugar free hot cocoa. I could never ever eat a bagel or some of the other items you have listed... I have never had a PB was stuck once for a slight momment over eating three baked bagel chips after 5 weeks Post-op. I have the AP 10cc band and I get full or satisfied very early into my meals. Most of the food you list also is really not plan by my doctors rules..... Be careful not to over do it or start out of the gate eating unhealthy higher carb foods. Best to all in our journey of weigh loss!!!

Just a couple more days... :smile: I am sooo anxious to get started on the new me! I will head to Dallas Thursday and my surgery is scheduled for 8:30 Friday morning. Pre-op diet is not too terribly bad... :w00t: first couple days left me with a migraine, but that is gone now. Went shopping last night for lots of high protein foods, juices, yogurts, sugar free stuff..yada yada. Just wanted to get a quick post in before things get too crazy around here.

I have a sweet tooth as well, and lapband is working for me. I just try to make slightly more sensible choices, instead of brownies and ice cream. I don't cut out all sugars. For example, my morning yogurt has sugar, mainly in the form of fruit. I also generally have a fruit popsicle bar after dinner (only 80 cal, but it has sugar). If I am really having a craving, I will skip the chicken for dinner and get a smoothy with a Protein boost. I find the fruity stuff satisfies my cravings and does not take me too much off track. Another good substitute is to eat Protein Bars. Many have a small amount of chocolate in them and you are still getting your protein requirements. Your food choices have to work for you, otherwise you will not stick with it. Good luck.

I just had my surgery on Feb 28th, this past monday and I had the same concern. I will tell you that after surgery you aren't in the mood to eat. Today I am 4 days out and I can tell I am healing fast. My doctor only required me to be on liquids the day of surgery and then move to a puree diet. I have been able to eat ham salad, egg salad, yogurt, soup, etc. The amazing thing is that after 1/2 cup to a cup you are full and satisfied. You still have yourold head playing tricks on you and wanting you to eat more so I suggest you measure your food and keep it at a 1/2 cup total at a sitting or it will not be comfortable!! So far I have been able to stay satisfied and not feel hungrey all the time. You have to make smart choices and it is hard in the puree stage because you can't eat a normal healthy diet. It is wonderful I must say and congrats on your up coming banding!! Time to start feeling good again!

I am a week and a half post op, and experiencing my first cravings: tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. To drink? Ice-cold fresh Water. I am, of course, still in liquids, but added yogurt this week. I really enjoy the Bariatric Pal Cream of chicken Soup as well. I never craved fresh vegetables before, so I could get used to craving something healthy!! I hope it's still what I crave layer when they are something I can eat.. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

Almost 8 weeks out, down 26 pounds from 271 to 245 So I got my first fill last week, and I am REALLY tight. So much so that I've lost 5 pounds in 6 days! I am finding it extremely difficult to eat anything in the morning. I even feel stuck just trying to drink some water or juice in the morning; warm coffee seems to go down much more easily. I had a particularly bad day this last Saturday: so let me first say that of course I recognize that no one who is trying to lose weight has any business eating anything at McDonald's. However, every so often I allow myself to indulge, and Saturday morning was that occurrence. I was soooo excited about eating some of that sausage biscuit, let me tell you. I was going to be taking a quick road trip of about an hour on Saturday morning, and I figured with this great restriction it would practically take me an hour to eat about a quarter of that delicious biscuit. Well, I think I managed to eat a total of one normal sized bite, taken in teeny tiny little pieces which just REFUSED to go down. UGH! Never has a human being been so disappointed. I cursed the band, let me tell you! I wanted to eat that damn biscuit in the worst way! And, to showcase my food addiction even more - instead of throwing the blasted biscuit away when I reached my destination, like any sane person would.....I wrapped it up and saved it, thinking to myself, maybe I'll loosen up later today and I can still eat some of this later!! I tried, not once, but twice more throughout Saturday to eat some of that biscuit, and EVERY time I tried it was worse. Waaaahhhhhh!! I also had my first PB (productive burping) episode on Saturday. I now know that it was precipitated by the biscuit incident in the morning, but I wasn't smart enough to be worried about that when I sat down to lunch with my husband and some friends......I unrolled my chicken salad wrap and picked out a tiny forkful of tender shredded chicken. I chewed and chewed and chewed until it was liquid, and when I swallowed, at first I thought it was OK, but after a few seconds I got that awful pressure feeling in my chest. So I sat there and talked and waited for it to subside and eventually decided to take a bite of my fruit cup - one tiny cube of mushy peach, which I chewed up to nothing and then swallowed. I immediately got the stuck feeling, and my mouth started filling up with saliva. This has happened to me before many times, but somehow I realized, luckily, that this time was different. My husband's colleague was in the middle of asking me a question, and I literally jumped up from the table, completely cut him off mid-sentence, and was barely able to choke out 'please excuse me' before I was running to the ladies room. As soon as I got in there, up popped the peach, and lots and lots and lots of saliva. BLECH! I thought I would feel immediately better, but I didn't. I stayed in there a while trying to regain some composure. In previous episodes where I would get that stuck feeling, and would "slime" for a while, at a certain point I'd feel things settle down and go through, and I'd be fine and would actually want to resume eating. This time, however, there was no way I was going to try to eat anything else for a while. I had to be really careful even drinking water for the rest of the day. I finally had a very few morsels of dinner (a couple bites of mashed potatoes and a tiny piece of husband's soft and gooey chicken quesadilla) many hours later, around 8:30pm. They went down OK, but I was scared bc we were in public at a bar, and I did NOT want to have to race off to the bathroom again, so I didn't push it. Sunday morning there was very little change, I still felt extremely tight and had to be careful even swallowing my yogurt. But, by lunchtime I had loosened up and was able to eat half of a turkey sandwich with no problems. So, on Saturday I was feeling a little panicked, and thinking - maybe I'm too tight?? Maybe I should get a slight unfill? But, now, a couple of days later, I've realized that there's something to be said for being this tight - it absolutely forces me to take tiny bites, chew properly, not drink after eating......it basically forces me to be accountable at all times to the band. I think as long as I'm careful and don't PB all the time, maybe I'll just deal with it?? Because you know, of course I'm loving, loving, loving watching the scale drop each day! The only thing I'm worried about right now is how to explain my sudden bird-like portions to friends. This weekend when someone made a comment, I just said, "Oh, you know me! I'm just trying to lose some weight....AGAIN, ha ha ha..." I just wonder if someone is eventually going to catch on to my secret! I really, really, really hope not.

Chicken pureed with a tiny bit of mayo or Greek yogurt and different seasonings (curry powder is great), same with salmon/tuna/crab, cottage cheese with some sugar free jam, refried beans with a little taco seasoning and salsa, cream soups with added protein powder. Check out http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html for some more pureed ideas.

what about yogurt, cream of wheat, oatmeal, and most of all protein shakes. You probably are getting enough protein if you drink 1 and 1/2 isopures a day

Chances are at this stage your solid foods will be mushy - apple sauce, mashed potatoes, anything blended (my dietician said one person put a bacon cheeseburger into a blender), things that can be mashed with a fork like peas, yogurt, cottage cheese. Be careful transitioning - you really should avoid fried/battered food like LJS - the battering is just hollow calories and you get less Protein when you eat stuff like that because it fills your limited stomach space.

Hello everybody! I too am new-just joined yesterday. I got banded on 10-7-05 and Dr. St. Laurent says that I have done real good for a bandster because I have lost 58 pounds in just 3 months!!! However, I had my second fill 5 days ago and and am not doing well at all. I can just barely keep down liquids or a few bites of yogurt. I'm going to give myself another 3 or 4 days and if no improvement I will call the doctor back. Does anybody think that this is too restrictive or should it settle down after a week or so? I tried a few bites of baked fish yesterday and it got "stuck" and lasted for about 2 hours and I about died. Couldn't throw it up but it finally stopped. I am afraid to eat any solid food right now and I swear that I will never go through that again!!!

My dietician gave me the following advice and I hope this helps you. After surgery your on a liquid diet for approximately 2 weeks. Must be in liquid form, thin enough to pass through a straw, smooth, has no lumps and no fizzy. Suitable fluids Commercial Protein drinks Plain Water Coffee/tea Drinking yogurt fruit juice Vegetable Juice Tin strained soup/stocks They also recommend you take a liquid Multivitamin. For constipation take prune juice or benifiber. Hope this information helps you, I could email you the information which will be in more detail if you like, just email me your email address.

I dump mostly with fatty dairy (ice cream level fats) and greasy meats (but not ALL). I can have bacon that I make myself but don't do well with the one from the cafeteria at work. I also do fine with butter, yogurt, and cheese. it's kind of hit and miss but when I get it, it seems like i'm even more miserable 3.5 years out than I was initially!! I think that adding many grain products back into my diet have only added to the issue, as I am convinced that i'm gluten sensitive....

My tastes are the same, they are just more exaggerated. Things I didn't like before surgery I hate, like eggs and yogurt. And things I love, I love even more like lobster and crab. People not liking Water is like the most puzzling thing to me about surgery. Water is the corner stone of life on this planet. Even Fiji water?

The tightness of my band fluctuates on a daily basis, sometimes even hourly. It's weird. I can eat something for lunch with no problem, but sometimes I can't eat it again for dinner that same day. Other days it's no problem. I never know from day to day. I exercise quite a bit so I'm not sure if that's it or if it's a water retention thing or what! It's frustrating at times. I'm sorry I don't have any advice, I just kind of go with the flow. I can tell almost immediately if I'm going to have trouble and I stop. Since being banded I've not been able to eat chicken, then all of the sudden I could eat is some of the time. Go figure! There are days when eating almost seems like a chore instead of a pleasure. On those days, I eat to live and eat what I can like soup, yogurt, protein shakes, etc. I'm all ears if anyone else has any answers or suggestions.

Hi, I'm getting banded on the 13th also. I'm so excited. I really haven't told many people. Just don't want tohave to explain. I'm on a liquid/soft diet. The yogurt helps. At least I feel like I'm eating something. It really hasn't been too bad. What did they tell you about carbinated drinks? My dr. hasn't said anything yet but most posts I've seen say you can't have soda.

It's true, there are many variations from one program to another. I'm also on the protein shake diet (it's very difficult) I am allowed one "real" food meal but I have just been having a protein bar instead. I'm afraid I'll eat more than I should at that meal. After surgery I will be on modified liquids for 3 weeks. That includes protein shakes, yogurt, smooth cottage cheese, strained/blended soup. Basically no lumps at all! After I go for my post op at 3 weeks out they will give me the ok to move onto stage 4. Good Luck with your surgery!! Your just 2 days ahead of me! Super excited!

Can you have yogurt on full liquids? I found SF popsicles to really hit the spot because CHEWING is involved! :laugh: Also, sf Jello and for the same reason. __________________ Originally posted at www.lapbandtalk.com

Today I decided to get a fruit & yogurt parfait from McDonalds for the first time. I ate about half the yogurt but not the fruit. 10 minutes later I had some serious back pain going across my mid back. It lasted for about an hour. Well, jus to make sure that I wasn't imagining things I just ate the other half of the yogart. Lo & Behold my back is killing me again. Has anyone experienced anything like this? What causes this type of reaction? Any info. would help. Thanks!

Hi sorry you had to hear that from your surgeon that was just unnecessary. MFP is pretty good and I think your diet is great overall. It's similar to what I eat actually. But we all go through what's going on moments. Sometimes our body needs more variety or it gets in a pattern of holding on to the weight. At Least that's what I'm telling myself to stay positive. ???? The Lentil soup might have a lot of Protein but I'm not sure about the carb content, might be high. Also, the same with vegetable soup high carbs. As far as fruits I had to switch up from Raspberries and Blueberries to Strawberries and small plums because my body wasn't digesting them properly after a while. I try to stay away from apples most of the time...high in sugar. Another option for fruit is kiwi and/or a 1/2 small blood orange but again in moderation. For yogurt I like the Yoplait 100 and choboni 100. For vegetables just not starchy vegetables corn or potatoes. Also if you are exercising, try getting in adequate calories if possible. It will turn around soon.

I was like that when I first got banded... I just had my 4th fill and am pretty restricted on what I can eat. In the morning I'm pretty tight, so I stick with yogurt or a shake. For lunch I have a tuna kit. About 4 hours later I'll have a snack (just a few crackers or fruit or something) and then dinner. Last night I had meatloaf, it was about a 3/4 cup, but I was stuffed. Now that I've had my fill, I can eat about 1/2 cup, but like I said, I do eat a snack between lunch and dinner. It's like my band can hold more throughout the day.