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So, this is going to sound crazy, but I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to moving on to pureed foods on Thursday (day 17). I seem to finally be in my groove now with the liquids! Ha! I'm quite satisfied to drink a cup of soup or broth with protein powder, or drink some greek yogurt thinned with Fairlife milk. Will moving to pureed, then soft foods, then regular, reactivate my former appetite? I know, I know, I told you it was crazy. I'm just worried. I've only felt hungry once, and today, I had to make myself drink some soup. I'm reaching my protein and water goals. I read about all of you eating these itsy bitsy meals and I wonder how in the heck I'll get a minimum of 60g of protein and if I will feel satisfied as I do now. AND I've lost 14 pounds, so I'm a happy girl!

First off. You are not LITERALLY dying. You are experiencing head hunger. Tell yourself that and name the reality. Do not let your head dictate and reinforce a lie. It is HARD. Dealing with the head hunger was one of the worst parts about recovery and the process. But please, it is very important to follow your doctor's and RD's progression plan. No you CAN'T have any of the things you mentioned--unless maybe you want to put and emergency call into your doc and ask for his or her permission to progress your diet as you are suggesting. It's a short, temporary stage. Work your plan and your plan will work for you. This is the time to take advantage of it. What stage are you in? If I read this correctly you are in Stage 2: Full liquids? Here are suggestions for full liquids: 1. Creamed soups made with Fairlife Milk, spice them up with garlic powder, or your favorite spice. Make sure to strain out any lumps. Eat it slowly. (You can add protein powder to it - unsweetened, while it is cool and get the clumps out, then gently heat to no more than 140degrees to prevent protein coagulation = lumps. 2. Make Greek yogurt, plain unsweetened, and sweeten with your favorite drops with zero cals. Thin them out with Premier Protein or with Fairlife Milk until it is a cream soup consistency. Or get sugar free fat free Kefir and thin it out to cream soup consistency. Eat it slowly. 3. Use broth and doctor it up with unflavored protein powder + flavorings: Pizza = Broth + 1-2 tbsp low sugar, low cal, low carb marinara (strain it before eating) Mexican Tortilla = Broth + 1-2 tbsp mild enchilada sauce or Taco Bell Mild Sauce + garlic + cumin Asian (Pho) = Broth + 1-2 tbsp Walden Farms Asian or Sesame Ginger + Chinese Five Spice Powder + granulated garlic + a couple drops sesame oil 4. Eat a sugar free popsicle 5. Eat a sugar free jello Drink your water and concentrate on getting 100% of your water in! When hungry or head hunger hits, drink a glass of water slowly as you're instructed for your stage, and get up and walk. Then get creative by coloring or doing something that occupies your mind and your hands. Do four square breathing (google it). Get outside if weather permits. Talk to your family or a friend or get busy posting here. Quit watching TV commercials and break up with FoodTV and food channels. You can do this. It's only 1 more week. You have this. Maximize this opportunity. No one every regrets maximizing their success.

I do still buy certain thing’s although not often. Some people do find them handy for work lunches. The creamy chicken pasta is pretty good. I actually had it on purée just cooked very soft since it’s easy to chew to purée. I couldn’t tolerate normal purée foods. . I like their protein pancakes. I did try some of their protein chips. As I’m supposed to be doing more normal foods. I had half a small bag with two soft boiled eggs. As you advance you can get more creative with your work lunches. in the early stages try things like chia pudding I bought their protein mashed potato mix and I make that sometimes with a small veggie burger. Ie. Boca turky burger 2.5 oz 70 calories, 11 grams protein. I liked it with dr Praeger’s black bean chipotle pollock burger, 2.5 oz 90 calories 10 grams protein but my store stopped selling them. It took me longer than most to eat normal foods. I’m still eating fairly soft foods. my head is tired. But I’m sure there’s lots of ideas. Some people prepare their own meals fresh. I don’t have energy for it. I do a mix of buying a few things from BariatricPal, I buy things like veggie burgers, veggie sausage, if they come in small portion right calories, Egglands Best eggs, plain Greek yogurt or TwoGood yogurt, I mix PEScience select protein powder in yogurt. That helped a lot during purée. As did good culture cottage cheese cups. I admit I treat myself to a little land o lakes whipped topping (sugar free) on my yogurt. and evening coffee. BariatricPal does have protein coffee with vitamins and protein hot cocoa with marshmallows that’s pretty decent. i love using ripple milk unsweetened plain , they also have unsweetened vanilla. It’s plant protein. sorry for rambling.

Here’s an example of BariatricPal protein pudding, butter toffe is pretty good. You can thin it out as much as you like. I’ve mixed with yogurt sometimes and/ Or with unsweetened ripple milk for extra creaminess and protein instead of just all water. https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/bariatricpal-protein-instant-pudding-dark-chocolate I haven’t tried their protein gelatin mixes yet https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/bariatricpal-protein-gelatin-raspberry it’s very important that since when you first start out your portions are very small to make sure you are getting protein first. They also have protein soups including ones with vitamins. prices might seem higher but your portions are much smaller. Plus you earn points for discounts on future purchases. I don’t buy too often but get certain basics sometimes when they have a good coupon sale. one thing I wish I had right after surgery is their protein shots and protein juice ... You can get a variety pack to try the flavors. I like pink lemonade. https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/bariatricpal-15g-protein-collagen-shots-variety-packs

On my liquids phase I could have sugar free popsicles, jello and pudding. I took SF pudding and mixed two scoops of protein powder into it. This will bump the protein up and help satisfy you. I also bought some popsicles molds and used them to make protein popsicles out of protein shakes. Just having that helped me. I also had greek yogurt. Dannon Oikos triple zero is good. Just remember to take small spoonfuls and wait between bites. I was taking anywhere between 30 to 60 seconds between spoonfuls.

In the first months, it's all about keeping food really simple and expedient. You will be eating so little that the last thing you want to focus on is cooking and food interaction. So do what needs to be done, simply. I agree with @catwoman7. Use meat lube aka gravies and sauces on the side to dip protein in at first. It helps it go down. I wanted and needed to feel full and feel restriction, so I did choose harder to digest meats (aka dry dense lean protein). But I did use some ready made sauces (low fat, low carb, low sugar, low to no cal). I always had these on hand (frozen in ice cube trays in 1-2oz portions, then put into bags and labeled: Heinz Homestyle Chicken Gravy Heinz Homestyle Beef Gravy Classico Lite Asiago Cream Sauce Central Market Taste of Italy Marinara Light Hollandaise Sauce 99% FF Creamy Poblano Soup 99% FF Cream of Mushroom Soup 99% FF Cream of Chicken Soup Mild Salsa Mild Enchilada Sauce Mild Taco Bell Sauce Then I would just make things like: Foil Wrapped Fish Pan Seared Chicken Breasts Grilled Chicken Breasts Grilled Salmon Ground Turkey Crumbles Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Patties HEB Hatch Turkey Burgers (air fry them) Carton Egg Whites 2% Cheddar Shreds Low Fat Mozzarella Shreds 2% Cottage Cheese Nonfat Greek Yogurt Plain At first: frozen veg & canned green beans, then later switched to fresh and cooked al dente. But by that time, most of the meat lube had gone away.

Hi. I'm five weeks post op. Can anyone check my diet and see if it's anywhere like correct. I'm only loosing 1.5lbs a week. Okay so breakfast....one egg white with chicken.. Snack milk... Lunch chicken and broccoli... Snack yogurt.... Dinner.. Fish and mashed Brussel sprouts.... Snack milk.... Plenty of water throughout the day. Supper... Protein yogurt... Is this correct. All sizes of meals would fit in a ramakin dish and come to about 700 calories per day. Should I be loosing more. Or eating more. Or am I about right. Thanks in advance for your help

I wasn’t expecting such response from my comments, thank you. I keep thinking about this. I’ve never been a snacker, I think one thing nutrition guidelines sometimes make the mistake of including the concept of snacks. I usually have something that’s a healthy version of a treat or snack as “dinner” which is my lightest meal. Compared to lunch. Breakfast is usually tea and half a protein bar. I probably am not a normal eater but I never was. Dinner is usually yogurt mixed with protein powder with a little sugar free land o lakes whipped topping ... or good culture cottage cheese. i do obsess over buying things that I can prepare in small portions. I’m sure others can food prep and portion things out into containers and that works well too. I don’t have energy for it. being disabled I’m home bound so much of the time. And have very limited energy. I try to keep busy with my tablet. I do find myself having the occasional funny dream that I’m eating a lot of food. i had started writing notes on the notes app on my tablet from my nutritionist class. It turned into a daily log of the date, my weight, and the morning of I try to get some plan of what I will eat, sometimes as I go along making sure it adds up to my calories and protein range. I’ve only broken the bank a little bit when I ate out. It’s not easy. I also not doctor appointments and any medical issues. I have a calendar I write my weight on daily. At least the first year. I started with that before I realized I should track my food, calories and protein. take it one step at a time. Eat to live. Have the three meals and if you find hunger strikes ask. Is this hunger? Is it thirst? Is it pain? Drink tea, or even coffee. BariatricPal makes a protein hot cocoa. They even make a coffee with vitamins. I wish the best for everyone on this journey

Full liquids I can only get in an oz. I have little 4oz yogurts (noose brand) and I can only do 1oz also. Water is the only liquid I drink with no type of sweetener in it and I can drink a 12oz nestle bottle in two hours and be comfortable if I push it any faster I’ll feel like liquid in my throat and burp a lot. I had the sleeve. I think with RNY ur fluids go through faster right? So that’s why u can handle more. With the sleeve ours has to sit until the cable opens. Idk what it’s called I forgot. Starts with a p I think. As where RNY bypasses that part and goes straight through. My surgeon really pushes sleeve only. He is getting patients that had bypass 10-12 years ago and even 5 years out they r having to be converted to duodenal switch. His nurse that has been working with him for many years has had multiple twisted bowels and blocked bowels with her bypass. And unless it s center of excellence or an accredited teaching surgeon. The surgeons lose contact with there patients after the first year. My surgeon has follow up and blood work every 6 months after the first year to year three. And then after year three every year. 

Even liquids you can't do more than an ounce ? I can drink 4-6 ounces of soup no prob. Same with yogurt or something similar. Purees and thicker things are less and take longer but I can definitely have more than an ounce. I had RNY Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

We have similar stats and surgery around the same time. I don't have much hunger, but I had a really easy recovery (yay!) and don't seem to have any food aversions or challenges with eating and drinking which means I've been able to push myself to meet my protein and fluid goals from early on. That means even though I'm limiting my meals to 3-4 oz lean protein (usually with light mayo or greek yogurt because I am still on soft foods, or I eat a lot of eggs) and then if I am still hungry some soft cooked veggies, I get almost 800 calories a day. Part of that is because I'm still using protein shakes to supplement I am seeing my surgeon and NUT next week for my 6 week. My weight loss has been really slow the last 3 weeks and I'm hoping it's just a stall and they'll have some advice to pick it back up.

So I tried the buffalo chicken puree and it's amazing! All I did was use one can of chicken, a spoonful of sour cream, a spoonful of Mayo, a good pouring of Frank's red hot, a shakeful of crumbled blue cheese and a little ranch dressing. Feel free to sub out for yogurt or low fat versions. I put everything in a food processor and blended the crap outta it. It's so good ! Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Thursday 2/6 33 months PO/ CW 163 ************************* 7 am- coffee/ cream 9 am- coffee/cream 12 pm- 4 turkey sticks/ 5 squares of pepper jack cheese 3 pm- activia light vanilla yogurt/ handful of walnuts 4:45 pm- 2 cheese sticks 7 pm- 3 oz grilled pollock fillet with lemon pepper seasoning, yellow squash with onions and butter 9 pm- power crunch protein bar Calories 1143 Net Carbs- 37g Fiber- 9.1g Protein- 68g Fat- 69g GL- 3.0

My dietician didn't give me any macro or calorie specifications. Instead, I was given diet for diabetics. Daily intake is 2 servings of milk product, 2 servings of fruit, 5 servings of fat, unlimited nonstarchy vegetables, 3 servings grains/beans/starchy vegetables and 7 servings of protein. Have a list of what makes a serving size. Example, one fat serving is small avocado, 1 Tbsp nuts or seeds ot 1 Tbsp salad dressing. One grain/beans category serving is 2 slices of whole wheat bread, medium baked potato, 1 cup rice or pasta Milk serving is 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt or skim or low fat milk. One serving of protein is 1 egg, 3 oz lean chicken or fish, hard cheese Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thought I’d share dinner. White chicken chili Topped with a dab of yogurt and a couple pieces of avacado Love my mini dish wear! They r great!!! I probably will only finish a third of this and then save it. The container holds 3 oz! What is everyone else enjoying tonight?

I am wondering if there is a food database where I can input specific restrictions on certain macros to find something that will work with my diet. For instance, I am currently on the keto diet and I managed to hit my limit of carbs and and am way over my allowed fat for the day (damn you, IKEA meatballs and Oreo eggs 🤬), but I don't have enough protein! Normally I eat the same thing everyday because it's easier since I know everything is being met. However, on days like today, I am struggling to find something that isn't going to add more carbs and fat to what I've already managed to shove into my body. So, anyone know of a database where this information could be found? I get that brands vary, but it would at least point me in the right direction (and I am getting a little tired of protein shake, tuna, and yogurt everyday 😅).

Yesterday Thursday, Feb 6 Maintenance : 5'2" / 1.25 yr PO Sleeve / 118.0 lbs ---------------------------------------- I just couldn't get to sleep last night, and am running on a bit over an hour of sleep (and I'm not even watching tennis!). As a result ended up eating around 1am (I was actually hungry), and again at 4am (I WAS NOT hungry). Also, I am becoming a walking cliché: The lack of motivation to exercise and make better food choices aside, now I'm probably developing the makings of an alcohol transfer addiction. #selfDiagnosingMakesMeAHypochondriach. I am realizing that for the past two days now, I have actually been drinking not for the enjoyment of it, but for the sake of making myself feel mentally and physically better. This realization came to me this morning when I was contemplating about having a shot of liquor at 9am, AGAIN (I had a shot of lemoncello yesterday morning AT 9AM and then wanted some Gin this morning to "re-live" the good feels). Spoiler alert: I put the Gin back in the cabinet. But I wasn't happy about it. Whomp, whomp. Anyhoo, the blues continue, but I am making a concentrated effort to be less angry today. ---------------------------------------- 9:00am - black coffee w/ stevia + 1 fl oz lemoncello 12:30pm - salad greens + vinaigrette + carrots + cucumber + 2.5 oz roasted brussel sprouts + 1 leftover BBQ chicken lettuce wrap from the day before 2:30pm - skinny tea latte 4:00pm - Grande Starbucks Blonde Americano Misto w/ 1 pump of sugar-free vanilla 7:00pm - salad greens + vinaigrette + carrots + cucumber + 1.5 oz avocado + 5 oz steak 1:00am - salad greens + vinaigrette + red onions + 1/8 cup avocado cream (sour cream, greek yogurt, avocado, lime, garlic) + 1 oz blueberries + 1/2 oz havarti cheese + 1/4 shredded cabbage 1 oz bbq pork loin 4:00am - 4 squares dark chocolate + 1/2 cup Good North protein ice cream + 1.5 oz chicharron ---------------------------------------- Totals: 1561 cals - 92g Protein 87g NET carbs - 82g fat

When I first got mine I was like that probably the first two months. What i saw that helped me a bit was greek yogurt i would add some chia seeds to it. Try that it worked for me. Hopefully it does for you. I still struggle a bit but not as bad I probably go two or three times a week now and im going on 5 months post op

That's about right. I remember getting hungrier at the 3-4 month mark. I made sure to do very lean, very dense, dry protein. 2-3oz per meal. First. Then I changed veggies to be cooked al dente from fresh. 1-2oz. Also very dry and dense. I did not add oils/butters etc. Dry. Eat this second. Then I added 1oz avocado (for the good fats) and 1oz grape tomatoes (at that time it was more like 1/2oz and 1/2 oz). Eat this last. It's a slider. From there if you are having hunger, then I'd add veggies as between meal mini meals if you need with a healthy fat (like raw veg + lower fat cottage cheese or yogurt + Ranch Dressing Mix).

Just finished day 2 of the 2 week pre opt diet. Doing okay so far.But I can see that these protein shakes are gonna get old fast. I'm making some of my own protein smoothies. My doctor's okay with adding a bit of fruit or leafy greens like spinach so I'm making some with apple or grape or bananas. They also allow a little bit of yogurt or cottage cheese which I have been doing at the end of the day It was dessert.12 more days to go. dessert.12 more days to go.

Hope y'all enjoy long posts as much as me!!! Lol so Monday and Tuesday I did long fasts and only ate blended/ smoothie food. I would've loved to continue Wednesday but since my adorable nephews woke me up at 530 a.m. and fasting on almost no sleep is very difficult for me. You would think waking up this early (2+ hours earlier than usual) I would have time to prepare food, but they kept me busy. So I had to grab food at local supermarket. I did my best to choose right foods. Surprisingly enough I didn't really feel hungry until late night thankfully I was able to control myself. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday feb 5 29 months PO/ 5'2" / CW 173 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 600 a.m. coffee + almond milk 945 a.m. lite greek cheese snack 100 p.m. veggies + 1 oz tuna + mayo 500 p.m. 1 oz cheddar cheese / coffee + almond milk 630 p.m. 1 oz tuna + mayo 845 p.m. plain Greek yogurt + pb powder 1130 p.m. nugo slim protien bar / coffee+ almond milk + whipped cream --------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals- 790 cals / 71g protien/ 41g net carbs / 35g fat Sent from my SM-G950U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Menu - (note training for distance run) Coffee - unsweetened cashew milk, banana Post workout recovery meal - Oatmeal raspberries - protein water - Lunch - Homemade chicken sausage and vegetable soup. Flat out bread and tuna salad wrap Snack - sugar snap peas and hummus Dinner - Chicken salad with hemp hearts sliced almonds marinated artichokes chick peas 50/50 spring mix - sweet potato Night time snack - Yogurt - frozen raspberries - chia seed and cashews @FluffyChix I don't believe the post on intuitive eating was making an assumption about not trusting our selves. Or did I miss something? To log or not to log is a personal choice. It's finding what works long term. @Greenfeather65 IMHO, I believe maintaining is NOT a one size fits all plan. Calories/ maros will look different for each of us. Some of us have health issues, food addictions,, have a great metabolism or a high fitness level. We all approach maintaining knowing are risk factors. Its also possible for risk factors to change with time. Some can maintain with ease. They have la good relationship with food. They can do intuitive eating, keep and eye on the scale and not get complacent. Don't need to log food anymore. Some may have eating disorders/ anorexia behavior/obsessing. They may have a harder time getting out of weight loss mode, Backing off of logging may be a better approach. Without getting complacent and regaining. Some, still are trying to increase calories/macros with tight surgery restriction. They may need to log to find where there body stops losing weight Some are struggling with old behaviors - or binge eating, food addiction, stress emotional eating. They may need to log for accountability. Some have regain years out. May need to log to get back on track. Off my soap box *smile*

2/5/20 I think I will eat the 8pm snack as planned so I am posting this now. The strawberries will be gone tonight and now I am craving them. This is what happens when I decide to eat a little fruit. It may very well be worth it as long as my blood sugars stay on target and I keep up my running. Today was my granddaughters 19th birthday so I went to lunch with her and a bunch of co-workers at TGIF. I went over my carb goal today, but it is what it is.... 7 am- coffee/cream 10 am- coffee/cream 12:30 pm- grilled chicken breast with bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado, and ranch type dressing. A handful of fries and 2 mozzarella sticks. 4:30 pm- 3 turkey sticks with 3 squares of cheddar cheese 6 pm- coffee/cream 8 pm- vanilla yogurt with 4 strawberries Calories- 1079 Net Carbs- 32g Fiber- 7.7g Protein- 79g Fat- 54g Glycemic Load- 3.4

yesterday 2/4/20 My schedule was all messed up today because I had a doctors appt at 10:30 so I took a sick day off from work. It was 69 F here so I decided to go for a 2 mile run. My knee is still doing good. I ran about 60% and walked the rest. Slowly but surely I hope to get back to running 15-20 miles a week. 9. am- coffee/cream 12 pm- 3 smoked turkey sticks with 6 small squares cheddar cheese 1 pm- coffee/cream 2pm- diet green tea with handful of walnuts 6 pm- large salad with a hard boiled egg, walnuts, sliced avocado. Olive garden Italian dressing 8 pm- activia vanilla yogurt/ 4 strawberries Calories- 901.3 Net Carbs- 27 Fiber- 11.7g Protein- 40.9g Fat- 56g Glycemic Load- 2.4

I may buck the trend a little bit here. I personally wouldn't say you are truly in the maintenance phase yet. Maintenance is more than just hitting a body weight and staying there, it is continuing on with an established lifestyle. At one year post op, most people are still in the honeymoon phase. It is easy to get complacent and even easier to break newly formed habits. I'm betting you haven't bottomed out yet. Then after that is the rebound gain (which is normal) and that's when maintenance truly begins. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the desire to get strong and do things that our bodies previously could not do. However there is a price to pay when you start training yourself to eat to a caloric surplus for muscle growth. You still have stiff scar tissue that gives you the restriction with your sleeve. A year or two of being the strongest you can be AND the leanest you can be would better serve you long term than a race to get big muscles and lift heavy things. I am now 5 years out myself and I ate to fuel my lifting. I usually only hit 2500 calories a day. Now I have some old injuries rearing their head and typical age related limitations forming, but my established routine of 2500 calories does not fit with my reduced training. So now I am contending with head hunger again and I almost forgot how insidious that really is in regards to my goals. I've actually gained 5 pounds in the last 2 months and I don't think it is muscle! I could recommend all kinds of ways to get your calories up and do it an a relatively healthy way, but I would strongly encourage you to nail down the tracking of calories and macros. truly determine what size/weight you want to be, and then make a long term goal. I know it is exciting right now, but this is not a race to the finish and then done. This is a marathon that lasts the rest of your life. If you still want high calorie ideas, then here goes: Avocados - learn to love them. Substitute them for butter, eat lots of guacamole, or eat it with an egg. Nuts & seeds - cashews, pecans, and peanuts are very high in calories because of the fat content. But it's a good fat! Beef - there is no substitute for high protein and fat content. Hamburger/Meatloaf are good examples. Sausage - I still tend to go for the chicken sausage links or turkey sausage patties. They just taste better to me now. But old fashion pork sausage is high in both fat and carbs. Full fat milk/cheese/yogurt - And I don't mean any of that yoplait or velveeta crap. Eggnog Ancient grain bread - not the fluffy "wheat" bread that is just brown Wonder Bread, I mean the dense stuff. Good carbs and high fiber. Dried fruits - dates, figs, apricots... high in fiber and natural sugars. Helps keep you regular too with the all the fat and protein listed above. I wish you the best of luck and I envy you the time period you are in right now.