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I put the mio in my Greek yogurt too

Hi BioTeacher! Have you ever been testing for Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome or Metabolic Syndrome? Based on what you have experienced I would say that you might be experiencing a difficulty that I have also experienced. I had a hell of a time in the beginning because the band books I was following said to go low fat and low this and that...it wasn't working and I didn't have any restriction for the first 6 months (6 fills). It wasn't until I got a new fill doctor and my 7th and 8th fill that I really started experiencing success. I knew I had PCOS but I didn't realize that if you have any kind of metabolic syndrome that the low fat approaches will not work. This new doc told me that I had to get in enough protein and fiber to kick start and fuel a metabolism that was completely headed in the wrong direction. He said one gram of protein for each half pound of body weight. So basically you can figure out how many grams of protein you need every day by divinding your weight in two. Mine was 230/2 =115 grams per day. Try it and see if it works for you. It did for me. I highly recommend the following items that will help you kick start your metabolism: 1.) Week 1 and 2 - reduce your carb intake to less than 50 grams per day eat only vegetables, meats, cheeses, and low carb shakes or bars with no sugar- gradually work your way up in protein intake by 20-30 grams per day until you are at the amount you should be taking in based on your weight calculation. Put your fork or spoon down in between bites and chew 12-15 times per bite. Don't bother bringing a drink to the table when you're eating...this prevents you filling up on liquid. Steer clear of all sugar in fruits, no yogurt, no processed foods with any sugar, honey, etc. Only splenda or stevia. Also, watch our for cured meats and items with nitrates. These will interfere with your kick start. Get some Atkins shakes, breakfast bars...these really help a lot! Russell Stover makes great low carb candy that will carry you through this so you don't freak out about not having your sweet fix. Have nuts and seeds on hand to give you fiber and energy. 2.) Go see your doctor about another fill. I had to be at 8.1 in a 10cc band before I had any restriction whatsoever. You might be having the same issue. My doc told me that if you are overweight and overeating for most of your life that you can often have stretched the top portion of your stomach as well so it takes more tightening before you get to the sweet spot. IF your current doc is unwilling, consider fillcentersusa.com - I have had great success with the doctor they recommended. He listens and only does fills...so he knows what he is talking about. They have centers all over the country and more added every month. www.fillcentersusa.com 3.) Week 3 and 4 - continue to limit yourself to less than 50 grams of carbs per day...try to go closer to 20 grams if you can...this will really kick start your metabolism and you will start losing weight if you haven't already. Do not eat anything with sugar in it. IF you mess up, get back on the horse and get on with it. You are still eating less than you were before...also if you want a freakin diet coke then have one...depriving yourself will mentally throw off your whole effort. Just don't make it a habit. 4.) After 4 weeks...see where you are. Are you losing? Do you have restriction? IF not, go visit the doc again for another fill. You can ask for one every month until you get where you need to be. Fill Centers has a policy that if they overfill you - then you can come back within 72 hours for an unfill with no charge. Some even have an underfill policy within 72 hours so you don't have to pay again if you aren't happy. After you start losing, you can experiment with adding a few more carbs to see where you stop losing weight. When it stops then back off the carbs a little and you'll find your spot where you can eat some carbs you like without ambushing your loss. This is how I'm doing it. Very little bread and fruit, lots of meat, cheese, vegetables (not so much on the carrots, corn, etc) but green veggies and salads, lots of nuts and seeds and protein shakes.) Also, there are some very high protein shakes out there called NewWhey. www.newwhey.com or at health stores. They are about 4 oz each (three swallows) and they have 40 grams of protein. I put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then drink it...you are more than half way done with protein for the day with these. Also, Atkins shakes and bars are very high in protein. Almonds are always good to have around. Let me know how this works for you. I'm very hopeful that you'll be able to enjoy success with your band!

The only things I've ever had trouble with are the large non chewable calcium. I never thought about crushing them and no one ever suggested it to me, but I did break them into 4ths and take with yogurt or applesauce. Even doing it that way made my band ache. I finally went to chewables on the calcium and immediate improvement. I've never had any issues taking anything else.. and I take a bunch of supplements that come in capsules and caplets. I do prefer chewables when available. Round pills have always been hard for me, even pre-banding, but oblong shapes are just fine. I'm glad you are going to ask your doctor as all we can do is share our personal experiences.

No the band is not a cure all. You have to make a commitment to eat well and exercise also helps. most of us started with walking and move on to more. I have stopped eating the "bad" carbs again and feel so much better. no the band does not stop my brain, I get "head hunger" quite often. My doc told me to stop a minute and think am I hungry enough that yogurt or a veggie would help One of the foods that helps me eat correctly is turkey. I try to roast one as often as possible. luckily my husband hasn't gotten tired of it yet. I roast it with low sodium chicken broth, no butter or fat. it is so good and saves me when I have no plan for a meal. it makes the daily Protein total stay high. I find that high protein low carb ( no potatoes, rice, pasta) works best for me. I eat veggies after I eat the protein. I love yogurt and try to have some each day. I love the greek yogurt (plain, 0% fat) sometimes I add fruit or stevia. Every time I eat I want protein to be one of the items. Be sure to drink lots of Water and non caffeine drinks. I had an ulcer so I try to limit decaf coffee, I now drink tea.

Your doctor should be guiding you on what he/she wants you to be eating and what suppliments they want you to take. My dr. requires a minimum of 64 grams of protien daily and min. 64 oz. water. I get in about 80 grams of protein, 65 gr. from a protein shake and the remainder from cottage cheese and yogurt, chicken,beans etc. If you do not get enough protein you will loose hair !! That was enough to keep me focused on my protein.

Adding unflavored protein powder to soups yogurt cottage cheese helps too

I smashed them down with a spoon before freezing...Gave it a good mix too, so consistency was like drippy yogurt before freezing

If you like peanut butter & or just want to get a good amount of protein out of a meal this is great. It's also almost like a sweet treat. Just mix together a 6oz. container of your favorite plain Greek yogurt, 1 packet of whatever calorie free sweetener that you use regularly & 2 tbsp. of PB2 powdered peanut butter. It gives you 145 calories, 23g of protein and 13g carbs. If you want less carbs just use one tbsp. of the PB2. It doesn't taste quite as good as the 2tbsp. though. So glad to have this in my food rotation. Try it!

I'm still pre-sleeve but have been adding extra protein to my diet and in attempting to find a greek yogurt I like I added about a tblsp of natural PB and tsp. of splenda to yoplait greek. It was pretty good..and for after surgery PB2 would be what's needed. Building my protein arsenal!

Maureen - The RN in my clinic just made a lot of suggestions for added protein as I progress to puréed foods. (Yay!) 1) Greek yogurt and protein drink added to a fruit smoothie 2) Applesauce with cottage cheese (I had it tonight, heavenly!) 3) Mashed potatoes with chicken breast (puréed for now).

My "go to" breakfast choices are ground turkey, pesto and cheese, cubed ham, an egg and cheese; leftover dinner from the night befor. If I'm going for a run, I typically have 1/4 steel cut oats mixed with 1/3 milk, half a carton of greek yogurt and a tbs of Peanut Butter. I agree that breakfast doesn't need to be traditional "breakfast" food.

These additional items are on my list and I'm less than one week post-op, so they may be ok for you: Greek Yogurt (has more Protein than regular yogurt. Get a flavored one). Grits (thinned with milk or water) oatmeal or Cream of Wheat (sugar free, thinned with milk or water) Sent from my iPhone

I really eat differently than you - at my surgeon's request. I had two weeks on the liquid diet and really felt that I was suffering the last few days. But now I am able to have fat free yogurt and cottage cheese, low fat cheese, chicken and fish. I eat 6 small meals a day - about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours totalling 60 grams of protien and no more than 1000 calories a day. I have to say that I am satisfied and feeling good.

Try scrambling with some heavy cream if you are looking for scrambled. I am allergic, so no eggs for me. Also, having surgery on the 15th, my Dr said nothing like eggs until after my next appt (on the 31st). I'm on "thin enough to pass through a regular straw". The thickest I've tried is yogurt thinned with soy milk, which went down well.

Thank you Ginger Snaps and Tgarden. I am doing much better today. Off the pain meds mostly...I am taking a dose at night as I seem to be pretty sore by end of day and feel this will help me sleep. I may not need tonight but will judge by how I feel. My older daughter went to the store for me and got the Kroger Carb control yogurt as it has the lowest sugar but it only has 9 grms of Protein...I either need to add the unjury no flavor protein to this or choose a different yogurt. Like your idea Ginger Snap of adding the Jello powder to the plain yogurt- this way I get the protein I want. Thanks!

I am following Dr's orders and am consuming 2oz at each meal. I "eat" 3 times a day....mashed taters, grits, scrambled egg, cream Soup. I do get hungry between meals and have a Protein Drink or snack..applesauce, yogurt or pudding...only 2oz! I am also constantly drinking too and YES, I'm still hungry. This surgery is hell to recover from. I sure dont want to have to suffer through it again if my band slips nor do I want to have to pay again! I hope you are having better days!!

Hi! I had a RNY on 7/15 (with a hysterectomy). I'm home and on liquids. I see so many more options than I was given!! I don't have yogurt in my list. I'll have to call my NUT tomorrow and see what she says. Anyway, we ended up renting a wheelchair because I have five kids (three bio two foster) and couldn't be stuck at home anymore. We went to a local fair and I walked some and ride some and it was lovely to get out! Anyone restricted on cold items? I'm told no ice in drinks. Is it truly because it will cause pain?

Using 2% dairy products instead on nonfat, a bit of peanut butter (you can make a Thai peanut sauce to dip your meat into), make dips with greek yogurt (I just made some gorganzola and greek yogurt dip the other day. If you can up the protein along with the calories while not adding too much mass, I would think that would be a good thing.

It could be from taking your meds with only liquids. I know if I take ANY meds without something mushy or semi-solid that I will be nauseous as soon as the medication hits the bottom of my stomach. Our new stomachs have a narrow curve at the bottom now so pills tend to sit there as they dissolve and it can irritate the stomach lining quite a bit if they are sitting on bare tummy. Try taking them with something solid or yogurt or pudding at the very least so that the pills can dissolve in the food and not directly on the stomach lining before passing into the pylorus.

I'm one month out and my daily eating looks like this: 2-3 light muscle milks @ 20g Protein each 1 Greek yogurt (breakfast) 1 small banana or some turkey and cheese (lunch) 2-4 ounces of family dinner, eating protein first My plan doesn't involve limiting carbs but as I start tolerating more foods, I'll cut out the banana and scale back on the yogurt.

Three more days till I get my fill! I'm all stocked up with my liquids and mushies for the first couple days out. I'm getting excited! My little guy and I went to the zoo today. I just had to take advantage of this lovely 70 degree weather we're having. Walked my tail off! I wish I had thought to grab my pedometer; it'd be nice to know exactly how far I walked. I've been having a bit of a week long "last supper". It hasn't been total junk, just things that I know I won't be able to tolerate once I get restriction again. Like tonight I'm making chicken pad thai for dinner. Noodles are a no-no usually. I've also been eating cereal like it's going out of style. I love cereal, but generally can't eat that either. I think it's that it gets mushy in the milk and then gets stuck. Oh well. Enjoying my Special K yogurt and berries for now. And sandwiches too - I had Jimmy Johns earlier this week. Okay, I guess I should stop obsessing.

Are you taking omeprazole? I'm on 20 milligrams twice a day. My heartburn and acid was bad for a few days until it started working. Now it's fine. I'm not focusing on 3 meals a day until I'm eating actual normal food. I can only eat a tablespoon at a time so right now I eat a spoonful of whatever mush I can, whenever I get that grumbly feeling. I've made a bunch of different purees to choose from, including hummus, guacamole, tuna and crab salad, pureed cheese with balsamic, yogurt, pudding, etc. I'll worry about 3 healthy meals once my stomach is healed and I can tolerate regular food. Plus 2 protein dhakes a day (30 grams each), and as much liquids as I can.

Concentrate on protein, fluids and exercise. I would have protein instead of toast, cereal or oatmeal. Yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, beans, soft cheese, tuna, egg salad, chicken salad, etc. My plan says eat 5-6 times a day (2-4ozs at that stage).

What's your go-to breakfast in a hurry? I can only do so many shakes and protein bars and on weekdays cooking breakfast isn't an option....I've about Greek yogurted myself to death lately.

I worked in a group home with clients who were mentally and physically handicapped. I had to completely purée food for one of them. Absolutely everything he ate, think of a piece of pizza the consistency of a milk shake. So I completely understand how you feel. I didn't blend or purée anything. I'm Focusing on soft foods I could chew. If you're not going to purée, just remember to chew chew chew. I ate grilled chicken, fish, deli meat, yogurt, cheese and crackers ECT. Chili is good because it's already in small pieces. Count how many times you chew, and get at least 25-30 chews in.