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I had zero interest in food, If I am honest, apart from my breakfast yogurt and fruit, I could easily go without food. I have little appetite. Early on I had serious nausea issues. I cooked and discarded so much food in the early days. I gave pureed foods a wide berth. Pureed meat just was not for me. My team were sympathetic and said to just do my best. At this time I found protein yogurts and they helped me along. Eggs took me 18 months to accept. Chicken took over two years for me to manage a small piece. Pasta and potatoes are still off my menu. I have just begun to eat homemade bread again and I can manage about a Tbsp of rice. Cooked salmon is seriously off my menu. Its made me ill so many times since surgery that I have a phobia. I force myself to eat meat, Cheese is a huge favourite, especially paired with fruit. TBH, My weight is stable and my labs keep coming back ok, so I am skinny and happy. You will figure it out for yourself. Don't feel pressured by others who you think are doing 'better' than you.

Yes, it burns almost every time for me. I am bruised too! My stomach at this point looks like I’ve been in a jail yard fight! Haha Omg eggs and refined beans sounds like fine dining to me at this point!! I did eat like 1/3 cup of fat free low sugar vanilla Greek yogurt and it went down just fine but I’m nervous to try anything else at 5 days out. No constipation for me, thankfully! Glad the addition of fiber helped you!

The blood thinner shot does sting the first few times it's injected. It also leaves some pretty good bruising in the area of the injections. I did have some itching, but it wasn't abnormal. I was supposed to be on a 2 week post op liquid diet as well. But I was having issues with constipation, in part because of fiber not being in my diet. Even with taking Mirilax daily. So, they said I could start the puree'/soft food. I did eggs for a couple days with well mixed fat free refried beans for the fiber. Then I've been adding steamed carrots, broccoli (no stems) and a small amount of sweet potato. I'm not having an issue now. About 1 to 1 1/4 measuring cup full of food is all I can handle. To get my protein, I've been mixing Premier protein powder with a 1/2 cup of Chobani plain zero sugar yogurt.

Fully skimmed milk with added dried milk powder or protein yogurt is a great alternative and the protein count is great. Much cheaper too. My surgeon was very against protein shakes. I added banana and / or sugar free nut butter to mine.

I had a very regimented 4-week liver shrinkage diet. The base was the shake but I would also get to have specific items like a low fat string cheese, no sugar yogurt, ands a few snacks of sugar free pudding or jello. The only thing was that I could add whatever I wanted if it was fat free broth, vinegar, or raw veggie after I had gotten in all protein for the day. I definitely hit the broth and vinegar hard when I just needed something that wasn’t sweet.

omg repurposing leftovers is one of my fave things to do! a sample of my "Leftovers MacGyver-ing" (yes i take pictures food every. single. day. ...almost...i have an album titled "random food pics" on my phone hahahhaha) in order of appearance: 1. leftover baked potatoes into chunky cream of potato soup with bacon and cheddar 2. leftover cheesecake into cheesecake brownies 3. leftover dahl and sweet potato fries into curried sweet potato soup BONUS: also used leftover pita bread to make the croutons on top. 4. blueberry yogurt that was about to expire into yogurt bread

Hey Ron! I had my BP on the 6th. I’m doing pretty good as well. I don’t start vitamins until Tuesday a full two weeks after surgery. I guess they want to make sure I’m eating something to protect me from getting nausea. I saw my nutritionist yesterday and he said I can ease into soft foods with yogurt and cottage cheese. Luckily I love both! I was able to have about 1/2 a cup without feeling uncomfortable. I just stopped eating and I wasn’t hungry or wanting more. A few hours later same thing with a Greek yogurt. I’m so ready for eggs, tuna, cheese etc. I also was told to wear my binder for 4 weeks. It definitely makes me feel more secure. My glue is still on my incisions. I guess they put a super deluxe hospital grade glue on me. I’m not scrubbing it off or peeling it off until it comes off naturally. I’m too scared to open something up. So, good luck my friend. And everyone else hang in there with your liquid diets. It’s definitely worth it. It will make your surgery go smoother and recovery easier. 💖💖💖

I had nausea until about 8 weeks out. It was constant and impacted my ability to eat, drink, and take my vitamins. A few things helped me (and others like me) that may help you: 1. Ondansetron only takes the edge off of nausea for me. It is rather ineffective for my body. I have much better results with promethazine, it actually manages to eradicate the nausea for a number of hours. I'd ask about a prescription to try it, at this point it is worth trying something else for the nausea and they have a number of meds out there that can help with this. I took it several times a day. 2. My surgeon told me to be gradual with my addition of vitamins. I had to take the chewable B complex everyday, and the little B1 pill because my complex didn't have enough B1 in it alone. But these were pretty gentle on my stomach. The actual multivitamins though he said are rather activating for the stomach and some people can struggle to incorporate them early after surgery. It could be these are contributing to your stomach pain and nausea, especially if your multivitamin contains iron, as it can be a little hard on a new tummy. So talk to your doctor about this, perhaps they can switch you to a bariatric B complex and let you try adding in the multivitamin closer to 3 months than all at once right now. 3. When my stomach would hurt I'd massage it in clockwise motions with firm, but not painful, pressure. I got twisting stomach spasms for the first few weeks with any food or water and this was the only thing that helped ease the pain of them. 4. My PPI needed an extra dose and for me, omeprazole is worthless. Some people metabolize it fast and for some it just doesn't work as well. Have they considered switching you to Pantoprazole? It is often used in the hospital because it is so effective. It might be worth switching to it to see if it is any more effective for you. A lot of bariatric patients end up having to switch around to find the most effective one for them. 5. Hydration is crucial early out of surgery. They should have had you exclusively focusing on hydration for the first two weeks along with the B complex. It sounds like your electrolytes are off, probably because you are chronically dehydrated. Nausea is made MUCH worse by dehydration!! You are 6 weeks and still struggling. Unfortunately at this point you DO need to be trying to get in some protein with your hydration to prevent malnourishment. Greek yogurt is great for this, but there are other options too. Have you tried any protein water powders like SEEQ or Syntrax Nectars? These are easier to stomach and come in nice flavors. SEEQ watermelon is seriously tasty. LOL Try some sample packets!! It is okay if you can't hit your full protein goals yet, every little bit helps. If the change in meds doesn't help you at all, I hope they consider doing some imaging and a scope to ensure you aren't experiencing something like a stricture. They are rare, but they do happen, and they can cause issues with progressing the diet. 6. Water flavoring packets can help with getting in more water, as does sipping it around the clock out of those tiny cups until you get the hang of getting more water in. It can and does feel like a full time job and you will feel like you are floating! This is normal. Electrolyte powders are a great addition to water at least once a day because they really help you get minerals you are missing since you aren't eating them in food! And try a variety of things and a variety of temperatures. Some hot broth or tea, some flavored water over ice, something room temperature, sometimes the tummy has an opinion about what the best temp is! I am so sorry you are dealing with these issues 6 weeks out. It sounds like your team needs to be more proactive in trying different meds and doing some testing to figure out what is going on. Honestly, some do struggle like this for a while. On occasion some end up with TPN for a while to help them get the nutrition they need. It sounds like you aren't quite at that point because you are keeping some foods down, but it is an option if you continue to struggle and end up in the hospital repeatedly for low vitamin levels. Some find a month or two of TPN can get them past the roughest part and then their systems are able to handle food and water without issue. It really depends on the person. But you don't want to go that route if you can avoid it... ❤️

I have 4 shakes a day plus yogurt 4 ounces of a protein all of these with 4 ounces of fruit or veggie. Way too much for me.

My surgery is also on 2/21. What kind of a preop diet did your doctor put you on? I'm on liquids, basically protein shakes, broth, yogurt. Not a single fruit or veggie in sight unless you count creamy tomato soup with protein powder in it.

It sounds like you are doing pretty well! I'm on day 3 and not a happy camper today. I feel weak and a bit faint. For a snack, I had some allowed yogurt and PBfit in it. Best yogurt I've had in my life! lol. I'm so so lucky I only have to do this for 10 days.

I'm 6wks out now and I still have nausea and stomach pain everyday. I can do maybe 24oz of water/gatorade zero a day at most. The nausea isn't limited to food, it affects my water and vitamins too. The most I've been able to eat at 1 time is 1.5 greek yogurt cups, the least is like 3 small bites of food the entire day. I'm back in the hospital because my potassium was critically low, they checked to see if my gallbladder was the issue and it's not. They did say recovery is different for everyone but that it is still abnormal that I am having this much trouble eating. It's especially weird bc other than the pain and nausea I feel okay, despite how low my labs have been at each followup. I guess I was too ambitious in trying to hit water, protein, and vitamin goals all at once. But of the 3 you'd say hydration should be the priority over vitamins? I wish someone had tips on how to deal with the stomach pain. I am taking gas x, hyoscyamine, omeprazole, and ondansetron religiously at least 2 times a day. Not to mention reheating a hot water bottle during the day and sleeping with it at night. All of that just so I can get out of bed and walk around.

Day 5 out of 14 on the pre-op diet and I've settled into somewhat of a routine. I do a Bariatric Fusion cappuccino shake at breakfast with a 20 oz decaf tea that has 1/2 cup Fairlife milk and a scoop of collagen in it. Oikos triple zero yogurt for a mid-morning snack. Bariatric Fusion chicken soup shake for lunch. Jello for snack. 2 scoops Syntrax Nectar unflavored powder in one cup of Pacific Foods tomato basil soup for dinner. Jello for dessert. Sometimes a Good Night protein hot cocoa before bed if I'm hungry. I also take my chewable Celebrate One 45 vitamin, 3 celebrate calcium chews, 2 scoops of Benefiber, Vitagut liquid probiotic, and a liquid omega 3. Believe it or not, all of those supplements add 160 calories and 14g carb to my day! I also drink three 32oz waters with a sugar free flavor packet in each. Total average daily macros: 850 calories, 105g protein, 11g fat, 50g carb Weight loss so far: 7lbs

I've officially got the house to myself for the next 10 days! Since I have two kids in middle/high school and every illness known to humankind is running rampant, my parents have just picked them up and are taking them until I'm post-op. Let the self quarantine begin! I sent all the remaining food from the fridge with them, so now there's just yogurt and milk in there. And jello. I'm hoping to get a few organizing projects done while they're gone because it's so much easier to deep clean when no one is coming behind you to leave toothpaste blobs in the sink and drop their socks in the middle of the floor for some unknown reason. Seriously, why do they do that? I may start with cleaning the fridge shelves because now that it's empty, the grime is pretty obvious.

Most programs will tell you to stick with 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup portions for the first month or two. There is a lot of swelling internally and a lot of nerves are cut that communicate fullness so it is hard for us to discern whether we are full or not. I found this portion varied per food personally though. I have always been able to eat a bigger portion of yogurt, for instance, than a pureed meat. Density seems to matter to my stomach. You could always call your surgeon's office to find out their recommendations. But if you don't want to, I'd stick to the 1/4 to 1/3 cup range. I noticed my portions changed at around 2 months out. I can eat closer to 1/2 cup portions now. I'm assuming that is because all the swelling finally went down and there is more space now.

I'm on day 3 of liquids today and doing okay but trying to figure out what choices are working and which ones aren't. Oikos triple zero yogurt has been a life saver. I have learned I am not a fan of ready-made sugar free pudding. I'm going to try making a batch from a box instead, but if that doesn't taste any better, I'll cross it off my list. Jello, on the other hand, has been delightful. I may end up going through a box of sugar free Jello mix per day. Bone broth tastes nice but does not score high in the satiety department. I may save it for post-op. I'm averaging just under 900 calories per day, 130g protein, 10g fat, and 50g carbs. I get about 150 oz fluid per day.

How are you doing now Shark?? In the soft foods stage I could eat anything easily cut with a plastic fork. So eggs of all varieties worked, though my first "solid" food was swordfish, followed by scrambled eggs the way Gordon Ramsey makes them, all soft and buttery... My surgeon was super eager for his patients to eat seafood early and often, he said fish is the gentlest meat protein on the stomach and he was right. Plus it carries a lot of protein with it... Other than that, soft meats cooked in a sauce, canned veggies are good at this stage because they are so soft and easy to chew, yogurt, and my dietician included wafer protein bars and protein chips into this category because he said when you chew them up they end up a crumbly paste and don't irritate the stomach. Chewy protein bars had to wait until the all foods stage though. But if you just keep in mind that soft food stage is anything you can cut/mash with a plastic fork, you'll do fine.

I am six months out and my typical day is: Breakfast - 20g protein yogurt, 10 almonds Lunch - Tuna salad - 15 g protein Dinner- 3.5 oz broiled chicken thigh - 24 g protein Snacks - Kodiak Bear Bites- chocolate graham crackers - 5 g protien, Protein 2o 20 g protein water, pistachios or other nuts, peanut butter on seed cracker - to hit goal of 85-95 g protein. I try to keep carbs under 60 g. Re: Quest protein chips -- liked them before surgery, stomach doesn't like them now (I get nauseous). Good luck!

I'm 5 weeks post op RNY, I eat 3 meals of protein, 2 oz per meal, and add 1 cup of fairlife milk and a protein shake. If I'm feeling hungry I'll add 2 oz of greek yogurt or protein pudding for a fourth meal. I usually feel a bit hungrier on days that I swim. I exercise every day and I can tell when I got too into it, I feel tired and hungry. So far the easiest to digest have been ground turkey, smoked salmon, chicken, tuna, and cottage cheese. I'm still drinking chicken broth when I feel like I need more salt and if I forget that, I crave chips. I also pretty much eat my weight in sugar free popsicles.

I have to eat every 2-3 hours and have since I was post op, so I eat 5-6 small meals a day. I prefer this because it keeps me from mindless snacking, provides a rhythm to my day, and allows me to get in a variety of flavors and textures. I'm only 3 months post op, there is no way I'd get my daily macros in with just 3 meals a day. My stomach doesn't have that capacity and if I go past 3 hours without eating my energy crashes, I feel light headed, nauseous, shaky, and irritable. Each person's body is different, but by necessity I ascribe to the "eat less more often" method and I'm not alone in that need. My target macros are 120 grams of protein, 100 grams of fat, 40 grams of total carbs, calories don't matter because I malabsorb a good percentage of fat and a moderate percentage of protein. 8:00 am Premier Protein Vanilla Shake 9:30 am 3 tablespoons hashbrowns, 4 cherry tomatoes, 1 1/2 scrambled eggs 12:00 Ratio Coconut Keto Yogurt and 2 tablespoons Diabetic Kitchen Granola 3:00 pm Espresso with 1/2 cup Fairlife Whole Milk, Quest Spicy Sweet Chili Protein Chips 6:00 pm 1 grilled chicken thigh, no skin, 3 tablespoons green beans 9:00 pm 14 Wasabi Soy Roasted Almonds, 1 Choxo Dark Chocolate Coconut Cup Total Macros: 116 grams of Protein, 40 total grams of carbs, 78 grams of fat, 1305 calories. This is pretty typical for me. I don't always eat the protein chips, I was just in a hurry and they are one of my go-to snacks when I can't have something perishable. Normally they'd be a protein and veggie.

I don't know if this helps, but when I saw the nutritionist last week for my last pre-op appointment, she suggested choosing three regularly spaced meal times, 4 to 6 hours apart. I've decided on 8:30, 1:30, and 6:30 because it works best with my daily work schedule. She said to eat what I could of "real" food at the mealtimes, but not to let myself keep eating beyond 30-40 minutes. My goal is 20-25g protein at the meal, but let's say I managed to eat 10g for breakfast. In that case, I would want to supplement 10-15g of protein shake at 11am (halfway between breakfast and lunch). If I managed to eat 20g of protein at lunch, then I could skip the supplement between lunch and dinner. But if I only got 5g protein at dinner, I should supplement with 15-20g of protein shake a couple hours after dinner. That way you're trying real food first, but not letting yourself get behind as the day goes on. She said it would take quite some time to ween off protein supplements completely and that was fine. Eventually, she wants me to be at 3 meals and no snacks with 60-80g protein per day. If you don't want to rely on protein shakes but you find you can easily eat something like a Greek yogurt in between meals, you could do that instead. But basically it's just going to take time, and even after you are at a point that you can usually get all 20-25g of protein in a meal, there still may be some days where you can't and you need a supplement.

And yes, by all means, if you continue to have problems after modifying how you are eating, do follow up with the nurse. There are a few things that can prevent you from progressing your diet past liquids, but they are rare, and if you are getting down yogurt it is a good sign!

Homemade purees should be completely smooth, like yogurt or pudding. No bits, no lumps, no bumps. I was advised to take bites no bigger than my thumbnail and yes, use a baby spoon! Most of us use smaller utensils, at least at the beginning. Even with bites that small, and even though it is pureed, you should chew it just to ensure it is smooth before swallowing. Then set down your spoon/fork and give it time to work its way down. The advice to eat a 1/4 cup is the MAX you should do, NOT the minimum. Most of us could only do a few tablespoons of food to begin with, if that. Don't eat more than your tummy can handle. Give food time to move down your throat and into your stomach before you eat more. Relax, eating should be slow and deliberate. And it should take a lot of time to eat, like 30 minutes or more. Don't drink within 30 minutes of eating. 20 minutes is too soon. Some have to wait a little longer than 30 minutes, it depends on how long you personally need to give digestion to complete and move the food out of your stomach. In the beginning I needed to wait 45 minutes. For many of us, yogurt was considered a puree, it is a heavier texture than a liquid. So if you can do yogurt without thinning it down, you are doing good! It is fine that it was in your full liquid stage, but it is still good to have in pureed stage. Try the above suggestions and see if that helps. It really sounds like you are eating too much too fast. Take the amount of time you think is slow and double it! Take the bite you think is small and half it, at least! Your tummy is very brand new, purees are heavier than shakes, it is normal for them to take longer to make it to your stomach, and longer to digest. ❤️ Good luck!!

So i started taking the b12 complex ( advised by the doctor to switch to complex) and it hasnt completely cured the itching but im not wanting to scratch my skin off now lol hopefully within the next few days it stops altogether. I also have been using cocoa butter to slow it down. Now the other issue im having is eat pureed foods. I have threw up every time i try to eat the recommended foods and measured amount. I tried to puree the food myself but maybe im not doing it right. I called the nurse anyway and was advised to puree it more, take smaller bites ( i mean how small do i need to do really like a baby spoon? ) and if im still having issues in 2 days call back and they will figure out something from there. When i swallow it feels like its stuck in my throat and just sits there and it hits my gag reflex when i drink water ( after 20 min of eating) so everything is just floating around in my throat and blam its coming back out. I feel the measurements i was advised to eat is still too much for me 1/4 cup i cant eat it. The only thing close to normal i can eat is yogurt and that is technically in the full liquid category. Im getting agitated again because its like man when will i be able to EAT!?? I dont care if its broccoli or carrots at this point i just want to be able to eat food again lol but im stuck at full liquids at this point i dont know how this is going to go but as always ill keep you all posted. Wish me luck.

You are 6 days post op?? You should be getting the bulk of your protein from things like protein shakes, protein waters, fairlife milk, and other things like that. Your tummy is way too small and way too raw to be getting your protein from actual food yet. I know every surgeon varies and some do purees early, so I won't comment on that, but even then, you can't possibly get enough in on food alone to hit your protein goals. Some soft things to try on the puree and soft food stages: very softly scrambled or poached egg, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, greek yogurt, sugar free pudding, sugar free jello (you can even get protein jello), some even include bean purees though I found those VERY hard on my stomach. You can also puree proteins into a soup base. I did a lot of cream soups and strained soups. I was on strict liquids the first two weeks. In soft foods you can also try things like egg salad, chicken salad made with chicken thighs because they are more moist, and tuna salad, but don't add things like onion and pickle to it yet. Too rough. ETA: Generally patients are encouraged to focus on their hydration goals for the first two weeks. This is because dehydration is the number 1 complication of bariatric surgery. Our bodies have protein stores that will last us the first few weeks after surgery. So focus on those 64 oz of water and if that is going well, then you can think about getting some protein in as a bonus!