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Hi InterceptorNYC---initial first days (2-5) post-op my surgeon wanted me to focus on water and then protein. Post-op day 4 his nurse called to check in. I told her I was getting my 64 oz of water in--but not much more than 40 protein. She said to focus on water and if I could get 40 protein and advance it through the next few days not to worry. Keep in mind this is my Doc recommendation....others might be different. I was also taught that protein is a dehydrator like etoh. I wasn't aware of this! Thus the need for water. When Dr. was teaching me pre-op he used the empire state building as an analogy. The antennas at the top are the most important=water, next is the initial tower=protein, next is viewer landing=fiber, (benefiber etc) everything below i.e.: applesauce, yogurt etc etc ="sewer food". lol! It's been a great analogy for me to focus on. Post-op in the hospital I had a bottle of Isopure clear protein drink, it was grape flavored, zero carb. Comes in a clear 20 oz bottle and 40 gm protein. It was something different to mix it up a bit instead of shake after shake. I've also like the powdered Unjury with Fairlife milk. Not too sweet. Sorry to be so long winded! Just sharing whats worked/trial and error. See my surgeon this coming Tuesday and get to move forward in diet.

1389 calories: 90 protein -168 carbs -50 fats- Maintaining my bounce range. I'm down 4 lbs. Breakfast Oat meal 1.6 Cup Dried cranberries 2 oz Sliced almonds .3 oz Black coffee 2 cups Unsweetened cashew milk 1 cup Splenda with fiber Lunch 50/50/spring mix 3 oz Grilled chicken breast 2.3 oz Hemp hearts .2 oz Pomegranate seeds 2 oz Chili lime pepitas .5 oz Light n fit Greek yogurt 5.3 oz Dinner 50/50 spring mix 3 oz Hemp hearts ,2 oz Chili lime pepitas .5 oz Smoked salmon 2.9 oz Snack Red grapefruit 3 OZ Chickpea sea salt snack 3oz Frozen grapes .5 cup

Let's try tracking today 250ml iced Latte macchiato light - 79 cal, 1.3g fat, 9.8g carbs, 7.3g protein 330ml protein shake - 165 cal, 3.6g fat, 7.6g of carbs, 25.4g protein 180g yogurt with müsli combo - 261 cal, 12.4 fat, 22.1 carbs, 13.5 protein 505 calories - 17.3g fat - 39.5 carbs - 46.2 protein And it's noon. In Austria we don't do net carbs, so this is like all the carbs lol I have 30min run in a little bit, but I also have to think about my 90min run tomorrow, and the fact that I have 5 days of heavy workouts behind me. A little more than normal this week. So more eating later on hehe

Soft phase I found a lot of places had cottage cheese hummus or yogurt on their menus. Soup, coffee and tea. If nothing else Good Luck 💙

80 is my 'cap' for protein. I usually hit around 70 to 75. 80% of the time it is WITHOUT protein shakes FINALLY. I have occasionally gone over and hit like 82-85 a handful of times. I don't stress too much about a few points over as I am typically hitting under 80 anyways 95% of the time. I finally got fruit incorporated (the low carb ones) and am working to remember to incorporate veggies too. Developed bad bad habits from liquid days and then protein shakes galore...and then finally eating protein, yogurt (which has some protein too) and some fruit...and forgot my veggies! From what I recall, the focus when eating for me...at 4 months out is: protein, followed by veggies followed by fruit.

Weighing in at 169.2 this morning. Yesterdays menu Breakfast 1 scrambled egg, 4 strips of bacon, and 1 package of grits Lunch mixed green salad with 1/2 avocado, 1 bacon, cheese, and 4 croutons. 2Tbl ranch Dinner 4oz porkchop no sides Snacks greek yogurt, 1oz almonds, 1 oz mixed nuts, seeds, and granola

I had blood work done on Tuesday and everything was great. My doctor is pushing the exercise. She thinks I’m not doing enough. . I weigh 10 pounds more than I did last year and I don’t have much endurance. Yoga, stretching, elliptical(I am on it as soon as I wake up), walking 10 miles a day, and gym 4 times a week. She is also 30 years younger and really doesn’t understand menopause. I will try some more soups and see if it helps. I’m so overly cautious after a bad yogurt reaction . The doctor that did the sleeve talked about 400 calories a day with 50 grams protein. Is that a typical goal?

Not true. Here in Austria we start normal food at day 4. It has to be chewed to mush, and there are restrictions, like no seeds etc, but we start solid food on day 4. Day 1 is water, day 2 is soup, 3 is yogurt and 4 is solids. But, you can't eat the amount the OP mentions. You have to eat within a 20min window and follow all the rules etc. I started the gym 4 weeks post op. Cleared of course.

I’m sorry that you are struggling. All I can offer is some options to get back on track Log your food in an app – Myfitnesspal is free.(Google to find other apps) Stay within your weight loss calories and macros for the day. Get all temptation foods out of the house. Make an appointment to see a dietician. (Doesn’t have to be a bariatric dietician) Go grocery shopping for items on your food plan. Reduce cooking burden - Buy pre cooked protein. (chicken, beef etc.) Tuna packs, Microwavable veggies, packaged salad mix – Find items on your plan that are no to low cooking. Find healthy options for sweet and salty cravings. Sweet – dannon light n fit Greek yogurt – Salty jerky Extra carbs and sugars with cause hunger – detox off them Counselling may help If you cannot exercise. your weight loss is more dependent on your diet. Log your food and stay within your calories and macros. Links: Myfitnesspal downloads https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myfitnesspal.android&hl=en_US https://apps.apple.com/us/app/myfitnesspal/id341232718 Myfitnesspal tutorials https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=myfitnesspal+tutorials Doing the head work https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/425354-the-importance-of-doing-the-head-work/?tab=comments#comment-4776743 No to low cooking https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/411624-no-to-low-cooking-ideas-for-real-foods-stage-4-post-op/?page=3 November weight loss challenge https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/428613-🍂-nov-2019-challenge🍂/?tab=comments#comment-4822041

Yes. I'm 7 weeks post op and I still have to drink 1 shake a day to get enough Protein in and I hate it. Loved protien shakes before surgery. Can not stand them now. I also diluted yogurt with milk and ate it. I would strain chicken broth based Soups and drink them as well which helped get me through that 2 week stage. It's just a small price to pay when starting your journey to the new you.

I am certainly not an expert or anything but one thing I did not know. I eat the Oikos triple zero yogurt and was counting that towards my protein count. (Instead of 2 shakes I had one shake and 2 yogurts). Here the nutritionist said 60 to 80 grams of LIQUID protein... I was pretty upset that was not clarified to me or maybe it was and i didn’t understand it all. Anyways that is what they want me to count it just the liquid protein for best weight loss and health. Maybe ask your nutritionist about that when you speak with him/her. Something about how it absorbs. Also your body can only absorb so much protein at one time so if you drink double protein shake it isn’t doing you any good. Just a lot of info and I myself am trying to figure it all out.

I was given the guideline to try to follow less than 5g of sugar at a time so I had a lot of low carb yogurts, tuna and cheese. I didn't have fruit for the first 5-6 months and then it was maybe a 1/4 cup with a protein so it wasn't just fruit sugars on an empty stomach. My nut. and MD pushed protein so much that I did get some carbs and fat from meat, yogurt, and cooked veggies etc. but not alot. I did use sugar free BBQ or ketchup or salad dressing to dip lunch meat in so I could chew/digest it easier. I logged my food but didn't need to purposely limit my carbs or fats since by focusing on protein and staying around 500 calories I never got a lot of carbs in, I'm guessing half of my 500 calories were protein at the time. I also struggled to eat more than a 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup at any time. Every morning Ii had a premier shake to get in my 30g of protein. I also drank Fairlife milk since it has higher protein /lower carbs than regular milk.

Morning all! Firstly - is 100 grams of protein too much? I'm 3 weeks post-op and I notice that's about what I get in a day. Premier Protein shake (30g), yogurt (12g), Unjury Shake (21g), snack like beef stick or lunch meat rollup (10g) and something for dinner, usually around 20-30g. I feel like my nutritionist told me to stay around 60-70 and maybe up to 80 since I'm a guy otherwise I'd be risking kidney damage. Secondly - my weight has been stair stepping. I'll get on the scale and be the EXACT same weight as the day before, down to the tenth of a pound. That will repeat for 2-4 days no matter what I do. Then I'll lose 2 pounds and that process will start over. I expected to be losing more than 2 pounds a week and it seems odd that I'm losing weight in chunks with no changes in between. I get my protein, obviously, and I get my water - usually close to 96 oz of water alone not including any shakes.

I tried hard for the first week to just drink water. Second week I just ate yogurt for protein. I was so stressed about it and finally said forget it. I was still breathing and Alive and that’s all that mattered in the beginning. Lol. I just ate what worked for my tummy and stopped stressing so much early on. You’ll get your protein in due time.

Light greek yogurt is on most plans but runnit by your team first

Strained soups, water, choked down the protein drinks, milk and milk diluted yogurt.

For my second week I was having creamy soups (butternut squash, tomato, carrot & ginger), non-fat greek yogurt (Danon light and fit greek), non-fat sugar free pudding, premier protein shakes and water.

In my second week I was doing full fluids: protein shakes, clear & strained cream soups - with no chunks or pureed stuff in it (pureed stuff wasn't on the table until week four in my plan). Other full fluids (I didn't eat any of these during weeks 2-4, but were on my allowed list): plain greek yogurt, no/low salt vegetable juices, cream of wheat. P.S. I would lay off the fruit juices though, they tend to have too much sugar in them....

Yesterday was a busy busy day moving our storage unit across town. I fell asleep by 7pm then woke up hungry at midnight. So what did I do? I ate! Ugh! LOL Can tell my arm is unhappy with all the activity and salt from yesterday, cuz I'm having a lymphedema flare in my left arm, chest, and back. Oy veh. Time for compression. I estimate I'm carrying about a lb or more of fluid. Monday 11.11 - Maintenance : 5'4" / 57y F/ 19.5mo PO RNY / 132.0 lbs B-Protein lattes (4oz PP) L-Big A*s salad with shrimp and veg (iceberg, cucumbers, red bell peppers, purp onion, carrots, sliced olives, feta, Grk dressing) + 1/4 of Italian sausage and marinara appetizer (ate about 1/3 of the salad). AS-nothing D-gg brancrisp flatbread + LS peanut butter BS-cottage cheese, ff grk yogurt + walnuts + SF da vinci pumpkin spice syrup Daily Totals: 756 cals; 57g protein; 48g fat; 33g carbs; 11g fiber (Psst: I have that crazy feeling of being at the top of my weight window at 132lbs and need to really skimp on food today to have the scale move back down to 130lbs.) @ms.sss

Todays menu was Breakfast Jimmy dean delight. To those of you that may not know what this is its egg on outside, sausage and cheese. No bread Lunch Salad greens, tomato, avocado with ranch dressing and a tuna packet Dinner 3oz roast, 1 small potato, 1 carrot with a few onions. Snack 1oz almonds and greek yogurt Could not eat all my dinner and finished the rest a few hours later.

oh my gosh..my vision is so blurry..thought you said "geek yogurt"..must be tired or way under calories as I found that hysterical..lol..

This is what I'm making for Thanksgiving "maybe" unless I do smashed roasted cauliflower instead. The difference is that I won't use as much butter and will be making turkey tenderloins cooked the way I cooked the chicken breasts. Yum. And so dang easy!!! I won't even miss the loads of butter! https://fluffychixcook.com/pumpkin-in-browned-butter-aka-refried-pumpkin-keto-allergy-kiss-day-2/ Here's the link to the smashed roasted cauliflower: https://fluffychixcook.com/roasted-mashed-cauliflower-aka-roasted-smashed-fauxtatoes/ I make em the same way now post surgery, but I use MUCH less butter and in place of cream cheese I use Greek nonfat yogurt or neufchatel cheese or lite cheese wedges.

Agree with above advice. Let me also stess the need to cut your grain carbs for the time being. The grain carbs will raise your glucose levels which in turn causes your insulin to shoot up. The insulin drives the blood sugar down and then you are hungry again. This can cycle all through the day. Cut out the grains and never eat fruit without the protection of protein. A little fruit is fine in a protein smoothie, or as dessert with some yogurt at the END of a meal. But not as a snack. Ok, For part two: EVERY time you eat, insulin levels increase. Insulin drives calories into fat storage. The more often you eat or snack, the more insulin you have floating around, doing it's dirty work to store fat and not allow fat burning. You have to limit your meals to 3 a day with NO snacking. Just doing this alone (along with eliminating grain and minimizing fruit) will take the pounds off. If you want to amp it up even more, give yourself an 8-10 hour window to eat each day. Only eat your nutritious food during this window. This is one form of intermediate fasting (most people skip an early morning meal and start around noon.) It is very powerful and kicks you into a fat burning mode. Do your exercise routine during this fasting time, and you will get even more benefit. I am also very nutrition conscious. I was not allowed to eat any form of veggies for 8 WEEKS post op!!!!! I have a large organic garden, and this was just torture! (I ended up making filtered greens water that I added to everything. My doc was mad at first, but I showed him that it was CLEAR and was a heck of lot better than Crystal Light, Gatorade, pop-sickles, or any other artificial "food."). Anyway, you have to follow the plan and get your protein in first. Then add all the veggies you want (except starchy ones.) At 6 months, I was still only eating about 600 cal/day. But I made every bite count for optimal nutrition and my 6 month labs came back great. Do not worry about becoming nutrient deficient at this point. Your labs were fine and you can eat plenty of phyto-nutrient dense foods now. But you still have to get your protein in to protect your muscle mass. Sometimes overeating is from fear of malnutrition, resulting in OVER eating. An overweight person is NOT well nourished - they are over nourished, which leads to a host of other serious problems. You can do this. The "honeymoon" period can last a lot longer than 6 months. You haven't lost the opportunity to maximize the next 6 months. The whole first year is really important and now that you can eat more "real" foods, you should not worry at all about nutrition if you are eating a healthy balance.

I think we're all different honestly. And you have to do what you know is right. I would try to see if I could find some balance due to your fear. I would: Only have 1 green smoothie a day (if you feel you must). Pack it with a scoop of protein powder, 1oz of avocado, 2oz of deep dark greens, psyllium husks, 1oz of blueberries (or other deep berry), liquid stevia, 28g Greek yogurt (plain) and thin it down with ice and either Fairlife Fat Free Milk or unflavored almond or cashew milk (not as much protein). Then for lunch, I'd have raw veggies in a salad or with my 2-3oz of protein + raw veggies. Use a Greek yogurt (plain) dip with Ranch seasoning if you need. Thin it with Fairlife Fat Free Milk. Include 1oz of avocado and a very very very light oil. I used 3 zeros Italian or Greek (zero cal dressing) or Walden Farms zero cal dressing. I would add 5g of pumpkin seeds or 10g of some kind of nut. That way you are getting plenty of fat for fat soluble vitamin absorption. Then for dinner, I'd have 3-4oz of protein + 1-2oz al dente steamed veg + 1oz avocado + 1oz grape tomatoes. I would drop everything else. Your hunger should come under control in 3-4 days from now. I would try to get in a range of 700-800 cals per day. I lost best around 650-700 cals and carbs at 30g net or below per day. At the rate you are going, I honestly believe you will stop losing well before you are finished or should be finished. You need to up your speed and you are right to feel concern. You are mainlining sugar into your body with all your juicing and smoothies. And just quit the grains. No one needs em. Frankly. If they are causing your weight loss to slow so significantly and causing so much hunger, you clearly as an individual cannot handle them right now. Maybe for maintenance, but the question should ALWAYS be: How did your meal xy or z make you feel 1 hour after eating, 2 hours after eating, the next morning. How long was it before you felt hunger cues. By now, you should be able to go 3-4 hours minimum between meals. If you cannot, you are having blood sugar roller coasters and those are very bad for all of us. Hope that helps. It's not too late to restart your plan!!!! Choose to do it today!

I'll tell you, the past two weeks were easier than I thought being on the liquid diet with some low-cal yogurt and one Proti-bar per day. However the last two days of clear liquid have officially sucked. I don't like the clear protein drink and I just feel weak and tired. On top of all that, nervous about tomorrow. Mine is later in the day. 12:15pm, the hospital called on Friday to discuss last minute stuff and I hope it's not further delayed in the day and I'm done and through recovery with enough time to see my family. In the last week I've finally told my sister and my Mother so they want to be there now. However I am also very encouraged. Both because I can't believe I've plowed through these last two weeks without a single mis-step and because I finally found this community. It's so nice to be here, even though I'm mostly a lurker and haven't posted much. So, how are the rest of my November 11th brothers and sisters doing?