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lol i'm not what you would call a healthy vegetarian - i just loathe meat/seafood and think it's disgusting. Prior to surgery i ate all kinds of junk food/pizza/pasta/mexican - i just didn't eat it with any meat/seafood. now, by force, i cannot eat the processed stuff and can only eat the fruits/dairy- yogurt/string cheese, Protein shakes, and some salad/veggies depending on the day - i think you will do well with this surgery - i find the more natural the food the easier it goes down keep in mind i did not have restriction until about 4.5 months in = so prior to then i could eat about anything - it takes a while to hit restriction in many cases and up until then it's all will power and you may have a couple months ahead of you of eating whatever you want.

i'm lacto ovo vegetarian - and good thing i am because once i hit restriction i found that dairy (yogurt, low fat string cheese, etc.) all go down easier than the soy fake meats which from my understanding get stuck the same as real meat.

THanks for your response girls. They do reply in a timely manner just I can tell that ana is confusing sometimes i can tell her english writing must not be that well. Or maybe i'm just excited and i want a bunch of information all at once and she only responds a little bit. I'm getting the info i was looking for in your response... i just wanted to feel more confident about being picked up and making sure my husband had something to do while i'm out of it LOL. Thanks for letting me know also about the cafeteria.. yeah he's not really a vegetarian so we will pack some snacks for him at least for the hospital stay. What kind of medicine were you sent home with? Did they kind of give you an info on your recovery the first month what to avoid what to make sure to do? Thanks for the info i advance!!

Sorry I didn't answer all your questions. Dr. Kelly's wife and Anaid picked me up from the airport, they have a large new van that they use for transporting the patients. Anaid is Dr. Kelly's assistant so she does a lot of the coordinating, making sure you get where you need to go, etc. My sister came with me, She was pretty bored. She brought her laptop so played games, read, etc. I was pretty out of it the first day. The one thing I would caution -- the cafe at the hospital is geared towards cancer patients, and it's an all vegetarian meal plan. Your husband might want to think about bringing Snacks for the room unless he is a very healthy eater, that's the one thing my sister didn't care for. There is a Starbuck's I saw nearby, and also a pharmacy where they might sell snack foods. Ana and the dr's wife will also take him out to get anything if he needs it. The day I arrived we were early, so Ana (Anaid) and Dr.'s wife took us to a nice restaraunt where I had broth but everyone else ate a great meal. It worked really well, they are very nice people and accomodating. Please feel free to email me if I can answer any additional questions for you. I am not trying to advertise for Dr. Kelly, but I did personally have a great, positive experience, and believe me I was as hesitant as anyone about having the surgery in Mexico.

Wow! Look at all th people who joined in! I am not on a preop diet. My doctor doesn't require one; although, I might do one for a couple of days on my own. I am from SC, but I live in Kuwait. I am really getting nervous and excited at the same time. One thing that is a bit worrying is that I am a vegetarian. I guess I will just drink veggie broth for the first few days? Can't wait to hear more from all of y'all. One of my biggest hopes is that this summer when I fly home, I can fit comfortably in the airplane seat and not crowd my children in!

I am able to eat breads (in moderation) I find that those fill my pouch up more and sometimes you don't realize that your eating such a small amount of bread that you eat too much and it can also make your pouch hurt so I tend to try to stay away from breads just because it takes up too much space in there. Salads......oh yes but I wasn't allowed to eat any type of lettuce until I was 6 weeks out and the nurse said that sometimes people don't react great to lettuce and some can only have iceberg and some can only have romaine so you really have to be careful the 1st time you eat lettuce because you may eat iceberg and your tummy may not like it. Tomato sauce like the kind with peppers and stuff added just give me the runs, as well as tacos, and onion....but that could all be due to the fact that I had my gall bladder removed when I had my surgery. I myself never ate the baby food because I have tried it when my kids were babies and ew ew ew that's all I can say about that. And those cravings that you are having are totally normal for the stage that you are at now, in the beginning you do have a lot of head hunger I know I craved hot dogs if that makes any sense but I wanted it not because I was hungry but because my head was trying to tell me to eat everything in sight because it was just that head hunger and nothing else.....I still am like that to this day, grocery shopping is the worst I just pick up things I know I can't eat and won't attempt to and the kids or hubby eat it lol but I just pick it up because the packaging looks good and I'm like oh I could eat one of those even though I really can't. Mac and cheese was touch and go it went down smooth, but I'm still at the stage where I'm trying to figure out when I'm full and when I can eat a little more that's an issue I've been dealing with and it's something I think all of us go through because you just don't know when to stop and when you can eat more because the full feeling you have with gastric is totally different than with your regular tummy.....they say once you are on solid foods all of your meal should fit in 1/2 cup.....well my pouch gets full way before the 1/2 is empty so you just have to try amounts to see what is right for your pouch, if I do eat mac n cheese I eat about 4 bites and that is it although I know I could probably do 6 bites I would rather stop at 4 then have my pouch overfull...and girl that hurts like a bitch! Here's some ideas of soft foods that I know were recommended to me by the dr: moist meats (canned chicken or tuna in Water only) ***use caution I ate tuna and it got stuck worst thing ever*** canned fruit (no sugar added in 100% real fruit juice) applesauce (no sugar added) hot and cold cereals (cream of wheat, cherrios, special k, any flavor oatmeal, grits) frozen or canned veggies egg substitute mashed potatoes fat free whole wheat crackers macaroni, rotini, or penne Pasta 96-99% fat free deli meat ***life saver, I heat up deli meat and cheese and roll it up eat it....great lunch idea*** tofu refried Beans (vegetarian) well cooked beans skinless turkey or chicken breast 93% lean ground beef fat free or reduced fat cheese fat free/light mayo fat free dressings fat free sour cream light butter fat free cream cheese whole wheat bread (dry, well toasted) whole wheat waffles (well toasted) Feel free to message me anytime you need advice, ask questions, or just need to talk!

Hello. Well, I never thought I'd get to the 8wk post-op point, but tomorrow will be 9wks post-op! I am now finally able to eat pretty much anything I want, although I've been taking it easy with every thing especially raw foods, i.e., salads, raw veggies. I will incorporate more salads this week. I've also tried to stay as vegetarian/vegan as possible, although I have had a couple bits of salmon and chicken. I'm not vegetarian for animal rights purposes, although I totally support it, I want to be vegan for health purposes. I am finding it difficult to be vegan but I just need to dedicate time to it and make dishes ahead of time so I have some good food to eat when I need to eat. What is it they say about preparation....?. Time has not been plentiful recently, but I need to stir some up! When my head hunger is stronger than my new sleeved tummy hunger is when I overdo it a bit and, yes, I've been nauseous many times. Haven't thrown up in a while, but came close. You just can't put much food in a little tummy and be comfortable. It just doesn't work. It is so strange to go to a restaurant and order a meal and take 3/4 of the meal home with me, or order an appetizer and even share it and be satisfied. Prior to my sleeve, I would have ordered a couple appetizers a meal and would have been thinking about the next meal right after. I figure the $ I save on food, will get me an outfit here and there along the weight loss journey. I haven't weighed myself in several days but will do that tomorrow morning and update my ticker. Hopefully it is down a few more lbs. So, I know I'm not suppose to drink alcohol for one year after vsg. Well, I blew that this weekend - and I paid for it all weekend! I was at a Reggae event this past Friday evening that we hosted and the bar had a drink special called a "Catch a Cab". It was a largish shooter of what tasted like a Watermelon Jolly Rancher. They asked me if I wanted to try it and I gave my standard answer..., thanks much but I'm not drinking tonight. Well, i caved under peer pressure and had a sip. I then ordered one (it might have been a total of 1.5oz and I sipped on it for a while. I then got a refill, and then another and another!!! I had 4 of them - a total of 6 oz. I must say, I did not catch much of a buzz, but....I was down and out on the couch not wanting to do anything but drink water both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, I won't be drinking any time soon as I just can't recoup. I don't know if it is because of the sleeve or just that I haven't had anything to drink for several months. I am loving this weight loss and looking forward to more of it! One Love.

Hello VST gang!! Yay! I've been lurking between 2 and 5 pounds off goal for the last couple of months, and I'm thrilled to report that I'm finally there--and I'm sure about it, since I've been at this number for a few days now with no "bounce" back up! The last coupe of weeks, I've been trying hard to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, and I think that has made a difference. As you may know from my numerous posts on the subject, I have a really picky sleeve--to this day, I feel like it's pretty tyrannical about what it will and will not allow me to eat, but most of the time, it works out well for my weight loss goals. I do wish I could tolerate certain healthy Proteins (fish and chicken, for instance!), but I now appreciate its inability to tolerate fried foods and sweets, so it all balances out. It was a huge challenge in the beginning to discover what would work--and I still find new foods that my sleeve will or won't tolerate, so I'm still learning. Next steps for me include getting my exercise on--I haven't really gotten into a habit of regular exercise yet, and I fully intend to do that. I am also still experimenting with getting my nutrition optimized and being sure I'm eating as wide a variety of foods as possible, including vegetarian sources of Protein. Now that I'm "at goal," I can see that I want to lose a bit more, although I'm not sure exactly how much; I still have a bit of flab around my middle and on the upper thighs that's not just loose skin--not sure how much of that will go away with exercise! Thanks to all posters on this board who continuously provide support, encouragement, and answers!! I seriously would never have done this if I hadn't been able to read all of your experiences beforehand, and I would have missed out. For me, the sleeve was 100% the right choice. I'm updating my ticker right this second!! Short story: Weight surgery morning 306. Weight today 190. (I'm 6'2", so while 190 looks really high, that's really normal weight.) Size surgery morning 3X-4X, tight 26/28. Size today L, comfortable 12 heading to 10--I pulled off my size 12 Eddie Bauers yesterday without unbuttoning--yay!! Biggest NSV: Being able to work as a conductor without getting all hot and sweaty!! I like that I can now wear elegant concert clothing, work like a fiend, and not end up drenched with sweat. I can hug people after concerts without feeling self-conscious and icky and unfeminine. Oh, and the shoes!!! I can wear cute shoes without my feet hurting!! Worst comment: From a lady at work: Oh, I see you've lost a lot of weight; me, too, but I did it the hard way (followed by me, startled, saying, "Well, congratulations on your success!" and moving quickly away). Best comment: From a female friend/colleague: I was sitting in the audience for your concert, and I was thinking, "Damn, her butt looks great!" (followed by me giving her a big ol' hug).

I am 18 months out and the other day for breakfast I had; half a slice of buttered toast, half of one over-medium egg, and half a slice of bacon. I was STUFFED, and that's a year and a half out! Lunch was most of a child's size grilled cheese sandwich - STUFFED! Then for dinner I had a 2 inch by 3 inch slice of vegetarian lasagna and a tablespoon of polenta and was STUFFED. See the trend? =) However, it must be said that the day before my cycle I seem to have expanded capacity and have been able to down almost half a cheeseburger in one sitting and finish the burger a few hours later.

First if you are overeating and throwing up and continuing to eat, you probably need therapy like counseling. Second, I am a fish eating vegetarian and I eat a lot of beans to get protein. Beans are probably the most nutritious food there is and they are basically almost free! Especially if you buy the bags of dry beans and throw them in the crock pot! The thing is I overate like a fiend and thats why I was obese...now I eat tiny meals of only really good fresh (often more expensive) food and I think I save money...a restaurant meal is probably five servings for me now...good luck, a lot of this is learning to be honest with ourselves.

@aoa: A good vegan/vegetarian way to get your protein while losing is to choose vegan high-protein, low-carb pasta. It can be expensive, but it's filling, and there's no way someone who's sleeved will eat more than half a portion anyway. Make a tahini garlic sauce, throw in some black beans and cooked, slivered carrots and onions, top with chives and you've got a great meal.

Thanks Cazzy I don't doubt that I can't lose weight without this band, and that I'll still be in this dark bubble in 30 years time saying the same old thing only with more regrets. I want to look forward to being healthy, having no headaches, lessening my depression and becoming more socially confident. This can only happen if I lose weight. The first thing he shouted at me was "you'll be on Soup all your life" so I guess it's just lack of education about the band. My co-ordinator isn't the best and hasn't gave me any info on post-op diets tbh so I've just had to do some self-research in a kind of blind panic! That is what I'm most scared about at the moment. I've heard about difficulties with rice which is scary because I live on it with being a vegetarian, but I'll have to deal with it! Thank you so much for your calming words Cazzy xx

Thanks for advices I take every day B12 sublingual 100mg, vit D 1000 mg, Centrum advanced, chrome picolate, code oil, probiotic, vitamin C, Evening Primrose Oil 1000mg and Indole-3-Carbinol (last two aren`t this surgery related) My blood tests were in normal limits... Last night the scale show me 62 kgs and I was so happy. I tried to stay off from sweets and unhleathy food. I don`t have too much activity and I need to go to gym... After I lost so much weight I became sure that nothing could bring me kgs back. I was wrong... We need to be careful for the rest of our days. I still think as an obese, 4 years after surgery. Thank you so much for advices one more time! So nice to meet people with the same surgery. PS: I want to become vegetarian soon....

Yeah, I'm pretty much doing the lacto-vegetarian thing. Eggs don't sit happily in my sleeve--I keep trying the occasional bite of egg, and sleevie keeps telling me to stop. Milk and cheese and yogurt, however, are YUMMY! I'm on a kind of pimento cheese kick these days--love it on cucumber slices (stole the "cucumber slices instead of crackers" trick from Eggface).

Lacto/ovo vegetarian. Still love my greek yogurt and a good soft boiled omega 3 egg now and then.

thanks for reply did you had any health problem being vegetarian? How is your energy? Mine is so low my doctor didnt gave me any diet to keep. His only strong advice was to eat only 3 meals per day... and yes I need to find my motivation to lose weight again! I hate extra kgs!

Did your doctor give you an eating plan to follow early on? You could go back on that until you lose a few Kgs? There are several vegetarians here, including me. Totally raw vegan would be much harder to get in your proteins. Eat lots of raw if it agrees with your tummy, and add in cooked proteins to supplement. Log your calories and get in some exercise. Its a diet again, but to get back to your goal thats ok right? ...and congratulations on quitting smoking! That will help your health so much in the long run!

:-) And it's quick and cheap, and really super low sodium, which I personally prefer now--which makes me laugh, since I was quite the salt queen pre-surgery!! I'm at a legit 191 now, so really only one pound from goal--DANG IT!! I've been eating a lot more vegetables since my recent visits to farmers' markets, and I plan to keep doing that, mostly because I LOVE how they taste! I did eat some bacon yesterday that did NOT sit comfortably in my sleeve--a first for bacon--and had a couple bites of chicken with some hummus at one of our favorite Mediterranean restaurants, and that chicken HURT--I seriously thought I was going to have to go be sick but happily it resolved after around 15 minutes of pure agony. Ridiculous amount of pain over a couple bites of chicken. Lesson learned--I don't know if I ate too fast or if it was the chicken, but I'm wondering if maybe my not eating much meat/chicken/fish is having a negative effect on my ability to digest it when I do eat it, if that makes sense. Can you work your way out of being able to digest particular foods? I don't know. I'm pretty happy being an unintentional vegetarian; I didn't set out to eat this way, but it's how my sleeve feels good, and I love the foods in a vegetarian diet. Plus I also like the "green" side of vegetarian eating--eating local, fresh-grown food and supporting local producers, etc. I'm flirting with jumping all the way into it, back to vegan. I think I probably will do that this summer, maybe not every single day, but I can totally anticipate eating that way during the hot muggy days down here on the Gulf! Cool, crisp salads, fresh fruit and veggie, no heavy food--sounds kind of fantastic! It's already hit 80 degrees here, and it's March.... imagine July or August.

I had my surgery in feb 2008. Last year I was at normal weight and everything was perfect. I had 55 kg and I was happy until I decided is time to quit smoking. Since then I gain 10 kgs... so I see I am the only one who voted for 15-20 lbs. Does anybody knows how in the world should I lose at least 2-3 kgs? (I have 2 kgs over "normal limit" I have now around 63-67 kgs depending on the position of the scale and its mood (my normal limit is at 62). I havent see nowhere how to lose weight after you gain it? I haven`t found anywhere if there is any vegetarian who did this surgery? Or, raw vegan? (I know I am asking too much) ... thanks, aoa

All these ideas are good. But wow, I buy Bariatric Advantage meal replacements in a bag and only pay $60 a bag. I order it straight from them. I generally add frozen blueberries and cinnamon and it comes out like a brilliant blue cinnamon streusel ice cream. I guess I will get tired of it but haven't yet. It is still pricey but I figure it really isn't bad, with the things I add it works out to about $2 a serving, which is a meal. I use the greek yogurts as they have so much protein, but I love yogurt and the Greek is so much more 'yogurty'. You could add one to your shake mixes to change the flavor some. I started doing that because I tried to go vegetarian and my hair started falling out.

I have always enjoyed "eating green" and for a few years was a vegetarian and for two of those, a vegan (as in, no animal products at all--no meat, dairy, honey, Worchestershire sauce, eggs). So I have a sort of fondness for that way of eating--my body did feel fabulous and I did lose weight when vegan; however, as we all know, the trouble really isn't losing it, it's keeping it off! Thus, the sleeve. This time around, at a weight considered "normal" post-surgery, I'm finding that I need to focus on eating for nutrition. Because I have a fairly picky sleeve that doesn't tolerate some big categories of food (grain products, meat/fish--although shrimp, crab, crawfish, and scallops work okay), I have to think about my overall diet in terms of nutrients, and not just Protein. I've been looking for ways to maximize the nutrition in my food while still being able to enjoy it--I do love to eat (don't we all!), and I want my food to taste great AND be the best for my body! Enter our local farmers' markets...there's one here in Covington, where I live, and one close to my job in New Orleans. I have recently started going back to shop, and I have to say, there is NOTHING like fresh-grown, fresh-picked produce and dairy produced at a family farm!! One of the markets has a "box" deal, where you pay a flat fee and go through a line, filling your box with whatever is available (for instance, there might be sweet potatoes, and it says, "Take 2," or for baby turnips, "Take 8," etc.). Sometimes the box deal has produce that I'm not familiar with preparing; I just got some beautiful Swiss chard, and now I get to figure out how to fix it. There are some GREAT resources online for vegetable recipes. Here's a couple of recipes that I made up--they're delicious!!! Last weekend, the box had a bunch of beets in it. I had never made roast beets before, although I had seen chefs on TV do it, but I decided to be brave and try. SCORE! ROAST BEET AND MICROGREENS salad WITH FETA cheese AND ORANGE VINAIGRETTE Preparing the beets: Take your beets and scrub them carefully. Take off the tops, leaving about an inch of stem, and take off the roots, leaving about an inch. Wrap them in foil (they've still got their skins on). Wrap them individually and then put the wrapped beets into a baking pan to avoid any potential seepage during roasting. Roast for an hour at 400 degrees; I just put them in and left them alone, and they did fine. After that hour, pull them out and allow them to cool. Get a pair of plastic gloves or slip your hands into some produce bags for protection--working with beets will stain your hands and no amount of soap will help! Carefully unwrap the cooled beets and pinch off the skins; I was surprised how easily the skins came off. Put the cooled, peeled beets into a bag, secure, and refrigerate until ready to use. This sounds like a bunch of work, but I promise, it's fast and easy! Dressing: Whisk together with a fork: 1/2 c. fresh-squeezed orange juice (I used the juice from one very small orange, and I used the pulp that I could squish out of there, too) 1 teaspoon of prepared Dijon mustard, Creole mustard, or hot/sweet mustard Add 1/8 c. good quality olive oil while mixing with the fork. Serving: Arrange 1/2 c. microgreens or lettuce on a plate along with 1/2 c. sliced or cubed roasted beets. Spoon dressing over the top. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of crumbled feta cheese. RESULT: YUM!!! Gourmet-quality food from the farm to your table. I use the rest of the dressing to pre-marinate more of the beets; sometimes I add a bit of chopped shallot or a squeeze of lime juice or some herb that I'm trying to use up--it's just going to help flavor the beets for next time's enjoyment. SAUTEED SWISS CHARD So much better than cooking it down to a dark green icky mess with a bunch of salty meat--eww. Prepare your vegetables: Take the bunch of chard and wash it thoroughly; it has big leaves and some tough stems. Pat with a paper towel but don't worry about getting it all the way dry. I rolled the leaves together like a cigar shape and trimmed them into long strips, and then I ran my knife through to cut into fairly large pieces. I cut the stems into short lengths and split the especially wide ones so that they would cook faster. I stuck all of this into a bag and refrigerated it--I cooked it a few hours later, but if it was going to be longer before I cooked, I wouldn't wash or cut that early (don't want icky mold or anything). To cook: Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a large pan that has a lid. Add 1 clove of garlic that you minced up really fine--don't burn your garlic--just get it sort of warmish in the pan. It will finish cooking, don't worry. After a minute or so, add your chard. It probably won't all fit, so put some in and stir it around until it wilts; then add more until it's all in the pan. Add 1/2 c. of stock or water--I used vegetable stock--and put a lid on the pan. After a few minutes, stir the chard around--if it seems to be soft, turn up the heat and cook and stir frequently until the stock or Water has reduced to a minimal amount--you have steam-sauteed your greens, which should now be gently salted and removed from the pan and eaten!!! I like a squirt of lemon juice on these, but you might want the traditional spritz of vinegar. Chard is delicious and very good for you!! ROASTED VEGETABLES It's a method more than a recipe. Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare your pan--I like to use a heavy baking pan, sprayed with nonstick spray. Prepare your vegetables--scrub thoroughly, cut into regular-sized pieces (you want everything you're cooking at the same time to be approximately the same size--or do what I do, heat the oven once and put several different pans of veggies in to roast--you can take them out as they are done, leaving the ones in the longest that take the longest to cook). Sprinkle with a LITTLE olive oil--do not over-oil your veggies!!! Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper--I also like to use powdered garlic sometimes. If I have a few sprigs of rosemary, I will add that to the pan. Pop these pans into your hot oven, uncovered. In around 30 minutes, check your veggies and turn them over. If you're roasting asparagus, you'll want to check it after 10-15 minutes because it can easily burn. Other root veggies are pretty forgiving and flexible. I like roasted turnips, roasted cauliflower (like CANDY, I'm telling you), Brussels sprouts--my sprout-hating husband now fights me for these, broccoli, sweet potatoes, eggplant chunks, carrots, peppers--you name it, you can roast it, and there's just not a veggie in the world that doesn't get improved with roasting, in my opinion (well, maybe lettuce). I always make extras and save them in the fridge--you can make a terrific salad out of roasted veggies and vinaigrette, or add them to eggs for a frittata (if you can eat eggs!)--I like them with hummus on top. If you can eat wheat products, tabbouli or couscous with roasted vegetables is fabulous--I'd use a lemon-juice/olive oil dressing for that with plenty of herbs--can't eat wheat, but that's what I'd do if!!

Yesterday it was absolutely beautiful in my neck in the woods! So, I decided to start week 3 of c25k at the local outdoor track at the middle school. I did pretty good had to stop a couple of times, but I had the worse headache towards the end. I realized it's because I was tensing up my neck and shoulders and basically grinding my teeth. You run completely different when you're on a treadmill vs when you are off (well I know I do!) but the workout went by quick and it was just a wonderful way to enjoy the weather! And of course today is rainy lol. Work today is a little crazy it seems like no one knows what they are doing (ie doctor's offices) it's like I'm holding their hands, and this isn't their first rodeo lol. Tonight after work I'm going to make my baked falafels and General Tso's tofu and then figure out what I'm going to eat next week for breakfast lunch and dinner. I'm not going to lie I'm going to be in "vacation mode" that I may just lean cuisine the week lol. Well, we'll see. I have a TON of chicken recipes but I don't eat chicken anymore. I found these Quorn brand chicken cutlets, they are completely vegetarian, so I think I'm going to try to see how my chicken recipes taste with the Quorn "chicken". Yeah, I think I'll do that for dinner. Lunch may be a lean cuisine lol. Also I have never made recipes off the top of my head and I did the other day with my crustless quiche, and it tastes interesting---a little watery?? IDK the quiche I did the week before tasted a lot better may do that one again next week. Well I guess that's all to report today. Hope everyone has a great day!

For me, the very first thing was bread, and any doughy products. Then came melted cheeses. they are globs and no matter how well you chew, it's still a glob. Sticky foods like Peanut Butter. Shrimp and lobster are a big problem. Again, no matter how well you chew, it does not brake down into a mush very well. I have become a incidental vegetarian...ANY red meat, including pork, is a very big problem with me so it is no longer as entre of choice. This include fake meats such as turkey meatballs and such. Same consistancy. I mentioned this to my Dr. and he said that is not surprising at all. Then added it's not really bad thing either, right? There are many other foods I stay away from. ANYTHING breaded and deep fried is another one that stands out.

I was able to at 8 weeks. oddly enough my sleeve has partially turned me vegetarian. It doesn't seem to like a lot of meats, but loves veggies and fruits and soft things (avoid celery, I have heard a lot of people having a ton of issues with it, so I just avoid).

Don't despair! The 1st four weeks were absolutely hellacious for me. I threw up daily everything made me sick. I thought I'd made a huge irreversible mistake! BUT I'm almost 6 weeks out now & it is soooo much better! Eating real food is helping me get in more protein. I eat a lot of moist fish which is super high in protein, I hate milk but have an iced coffee everyday that's half coffee half milk. Just find anything you can stand & go with that! I didn't lose any hair Give yourself time. It does get better! Ps. Try hot & sour soup (I get it vegetarian w/ extra egg) from a Chinese restaurant. It's easy going down & the egg is a good source of protein, but is in such small bits it is not even a mushie. Or egg drop soup if you don't do spicy! GOOD LUCK!!