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Hi, What about cheeses and yogurt? I eat a couple of servings of cheese with a hard cracker every day. Also, ham is quite salty - can you eat pork in other forms like a pork roast or pork chop? I also eat a lot of chicken, but I make it in a lot of different ways. I also eat one small serving of oatmeal every day for Fiber. I will have a little whole grain toast with an egg to change it up a little. Good luck, Lara

VerticalSleeveTalk Newsletter By Hey, Sleevers!The weather’s warm, zucchini and watermelons are abundant and the Summer Games are providing inspirational moments for all of us. We hope life is good for you and you’ve been achieving your own goals this summer. To help you stay focused, here’s another newsletter from VerticalSleeveTalk.com. This is what we’ve got for you: Burning Question: What are the Best Sources of Protein? Member Spotlight: Kyllfalcon! Sleever Challenge: Record Your Diet! Life with the Sleeve: What’s Your Emergency Plan? We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and you get inspiration and a few great ideas from it. Of course, when you’re done reading, come on over to the VerticalSleeveTalk.com board and talk about the newsletter or anything else that’s on your mind. Also remember to drop me a line any time if you have comments or suggestions for the boards. Thanks! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder liquid diet after weight loss surgery, Protein shakes and Protein powder can help you meet your needs. Fat-free milk is another good source, and it also has Calcium and Vitamin D for strong bones. In the pureed foods stage, you can add in things like canned flake chicken, extra-lean ground beef and light tuna. Tuna has an extra benefit because of its heart-healthy omega-three fatty acids. Fat-free yogurt is another great option. You always want to look for lean meats and fat-free or low-fat dairy products instead of full-fat ones. That’ll help you limit your calories and reduce saturated fat, which is unhealthy for your heart because it raises your cholesterol levels. By the time you get to the soft (semi-solid) foods and solid foods stages, you have a lot more options. Fish, crab, white-meat, skinless chicken and turkey, and egg whites are almost pure protein – plus some essential nutrients. Be very careful to avoid any bones or gristle in your fish or meat. Some vegetarian options are tofu, Beans and low-fat cheese. Melted cheddar cheese makes a delicious topping for almost anything. Always eat slowly, savor the flavors and chew your food well before swallowing. Choosing Proteins that are lowest in calories and saturated fat will help you lose weight and stay healthy. Did you miss the previous Burning Question? You can always see the earlier Burning Questions in our scale victories has been while clothes shopping. Her old size was a 3x. After surgery, she mail-ordered a 1x pair of pants, and it was too big. She exchanged it for an XL, but that didn’t work, either. She finally settled on a size large – and we bet it’ll be too big for her soon! Kyllfalcon’s also proud and relieved to say that she can still enjoy family parties while losing weight! She can share in the pizza and birthday cake, but now she’s in control and knows when enough is enough – and when the party’s over, it’s time to get back to business. Kyllfalcon’s arthritis has improved a lot, and her blood pressure is under control. Water has been a little tough, but she fixes it up with Crystal Light. She reports a pretty smooth weight loss journey so far, and we think her success is due to her positive attitude. Kyllfalcon counts VerticalSleeveTalk.com as part of her official support group, along with friends, family and coworkers. She visits each day to get and give support. Some of her tips? Keep fighting – if you fall down, “get right back up to fight another day.” She also encourages you to “see yourself thin and healthy.” Thanks, Kyllfalcon, for being such a great role model and sharing your story in our member spotlight! Each newsletter features a different VerticalSleeveTalk.com member in the sleep. You should plan your own diet and exercise so that you always know what to do. Keep a log. An Olympic athlete keeps a training log to record each day’s workout and be able to look back and see what worked and what didn’t. Keeping your own diet and exercise log keeps you on track and lets you look back to see what patterns led to success and where you could have improved your choices. Visualize success. Most successful athletes take time each day to visualize their victory. They think about running that last lap in record time and accepting their medal on the victory podium. You can think about the bikini that you’re planning to wear next summer and the proud look on your spouse’s face when you two go out to dinner in the future. How will you let out your inner Olympian? Let us all know in the member Challenge Forum! Tell us what you did and whether you think it worked for you! The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we’d love for you to share your experiences. You’ll help inspire others to chase their own dreams. Miss a challenge? No problem! Just go back to the old newsletters to see what the challenges were. It’s never to late to try something new and tell us about it on the forums. Life with the Sleeve: What’s Your Emergency Plan? It’s Sunday morning and you haven’t been able to eat or drink all night because of nausea and vomiting. Your surgeon’s office hours are from Monday through Friday. You wait miserably until first thing Monday morning, when you call your surgeon. The receptionist is horrified to hear about your ordeal and says, “Why didn’t you call yesterday? We have someone here 24/7 for emergencies!” This scenario comes up all the time on the boards, and it’s truly heartbreaking because in most cases, the suffering you feel is entirely unnecessary. You should know what number to call when you have trouble. If your surgeon didn’t give you an after-hours number, ask for one. You should never have to wait a whole day just because your emergency happens on a weekend. And with that advice, we’re done with this newsletter. You can always read it again and look through old newsletters in the Newsletter Forum. We’re always happy to hear from you and to see increased participation on the boards, so log in and get talking! Thanks for your support. Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=newsletter

Try some GENEPRO (available on Amazon). It is a powder protein that you can put in Soup, milk, juice, yogurt, etc. It is 30 mg of protein in just one tablespoon. The shakes do get old...

Triplets!! My surgery is 9/19 too, and today is day one of the pre-op diet. I can have liquids including yogurt, Jello, cream Soups and pudding. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I put half a scoop of it in the 4 oz yogurt, so with the 5g Protein from the yogurt and 10g from the unjury, I think that's a nice amount for 4 oz.

Well, 1000-1200 is also my target range for calories. I also end up with a bit of constipation from not getting in enough fiber, and I usually deal with that by mixing a little bran Cereal into some yogurt. Right now I'm not really targeting a certain protein/fat/carb ratio. I always choose lowfat or nonfat foods & lean meats, so I let it take care of itself. Same with carbs -- most of my carbs come from fruits, veggies, Beans and dairy. When I do choose to eat a bit of bread or rice, it's whole grain. Prior to banding, I had a doc tell me I should be aiming for 40/30/30- 40% carbs, 30% Protein, 30% fat. That's essentially The Zone diet, I think, and there are proponents of that ratio all over the place. At 1200 cals, though, that puts us at 90g of protein a day, which is a tad high I think. US RDA is more like 50g, at least for my height and target weight. For your height & target weight, it's about 58 g. With those workouts you might find 1200 cals a day is even too low. I'm pretty close in height & weight to you and dropping 2 lbs a week eating between 1000-1200, and I only get in about a half an hour of moderate exercise about 4-5 times a week.

My go to Snacks are jerky, mixed nuts, apples and Peanut Butter, edamame, and plain Greek yogurt flavored with Protein powder or Torani syrup. But last week I found a new favorite snack..... Prosciutto and cream cheese "roll ups". Mmmmmm......

Yes yes ???????????????????????????? found them at my local ShopRite grocery store, I only recently became aware of pumpkin spice Oreos via Instagram when I posted about my chobani pumpkin spice Greek yogurt and someone crushed one pumpkin Oreo in their container ???????????????? They make cookie dough as well but can't seem to find those ???????????? that's a good thing tho

Just be careful. I LOVED liver cheese pre-op. Post-op it is a bit fatty for me. I don't specifically limit fatty foods but have found that foods with a higher fat content are not as appetizing as they once were and can make me a little woozie. Just go slow and see how well you handle it.If I recall, livercheese is by Oscar Mayer, right? Square piece with white fat around the edge? What I purchased is nothing like that. These are the ingredients: Ingredients: beef, beef liver, beef kidneys, beef heart, Water, sea salt, onion powder, white pepper, coriander, marjoram, all spice beefliverwurst12406.jpg With that being said, I absolutely plan on taking it slow, my new stomach may or may not like it. Was just excited to realize there is something else I can try during that stage that is healthy. Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App That isn't a lot of protein. You may want to try to find things with a bigger protein punch. I lived on/live on Greek yogurt and cottage cheese.

I like GNC Pro Performace whey protein natural flavour. It has no flavour and 40 grams of protein in just 2 scoops!! I add pb2 powder for extra protein and to give it a nice taste. Sometimes I add Greek yogurt and fruit for a smoothie but only occasionally because of the carbs.

There are several yogurt brands out there. there are Light, nonfat, and sugar free versions. I think Dannon and/or Activia has a smoothie drink. Whatever you choose it should be w/o chunks- No "fruit on the bottom". Weight Watchers has some you may like and don't seem to have fruit pieces; they are lo fat and sugar. I try to check the amt. of protein grams / serving in the container. Some are as low as 3 while others are 7-8.. Some use gelatin and others do not. Yoplait has several Whips. Lights., and regular versions without fruit pieces.

Im not really sure about the yogurt but I think that might still be considered a mushie and a bit too much for your stomach right now. But what about sugar free popcicles. They taste good and help with hydration. I almost lived on them my 1st few days post op.

my doc said I could have yogurt I'm on full liquids now and it's part of the full liquids (: Popsicles are good

I'm on day 5 of my 14-day pre-op diet. My surgeon/nutritionist is pretty much: 3 Protein shakes per day plus any non-caffeinated non-sugar liquids, including broth, decaf coffee, mio Water enhancers, Jello, etc. Basically no solids, though jello and non-fat low-carb greek yogurt are okay. Protein drinks =========== I make my own protein shakes using: 1 cup unsweetened almond milk 1/2 to 1 scoop Protein Powder (vanilla or chocolate) 1/4 cup non-fat unflavored greek yogurt 1 Tbs sugar free Torani syrup (I have like 15 flavors now...S'Mores, Cookies 'n Cream, Butterscotch, Peach, etc.) I have one of those blender bottles. Saves a fortune in protein drinks making them myself. Broths/Soups =========== I'm being creative with broths and adding different spices to different meals and some egg whites to protein the broth up a bit. So adding a bit of low sodium soy sauce + ginger + white pepper for asian-inspired or garlic powder + cumin + cilantro + onion powder + chili powder for mexican-inspired. Just to change things up a bit. Popsicles! ========= I'm also stocked up on boxes of sugar free popsicles which help with the 'solid food' cravings. Jello ==== Ah, we all hate jello. I mix some sugar free flavors and whip in some vanilla protein powder to add some protein. I'll be doing more of that post-surgery when I get to that eating phase. Jello also helps with the "solid food" cravings. Hope that helps

I had surgery Monday and I can really only get down is warm liquids without a problem room temperature liquids like they hit my stomach like a bomb and don't even try for the cold except for Popsicles I had one today it wasn't bad. I think I'm supposed to start soft tomorrow like yogurt I can't even imagine the swallowing yogurt yet. I feel hungry but then I think about swallowing food and it goes away.

I avoid added sugars, not all sugars. I just try to keep the sugar content low. I especially avoid high fructose corn syrup. For instance, when looking at a Greek yogurt I aim for a Protein content greater than 10 grams and sugar content of less than 10 grams.

Ha, we are in the same boat. 2 weeks post op. One more week of full liquids. I'm hungry! I spoke to Nut today and she said to stay on track for another week and increase my protein as much as I want. i hate sf, ff stuff. I dont find it real food. Frankenfood. Only sf I do is crystal light. So, I make fresh soups and fruit infused waters and teas. ina garten's roasted tomato basil soup is awesome. Easy, puréed and strain through a fine strainer. Love it. I made this before surgery. Adding plain yogurt to bump protein and make it creamier. I made a Thai carrot soup which had peanut butter sauce in it. Amazingly! Epicurous.com has a fantastic black bean cumin jalapeño soups. This ne needed about 1 more cup of water to thin. Add a very small amount of liquid cheese (Campbell's cheese soup). Sour cream. Yummy. i make my own bone broth. No chemicals, good protein and healing collagen. Easy and cheap. I can make a gallon for about 9 bucks. I drink my protein shakes to hit my goal, then have fun. The soups are pretty low carb and fat because I'm only eating 1/2 Cup over 20-30 minutes. Good fiber also, which we need. Frankenfood had no fiber. Obviously I enjoy cooking, so I'm keeping busy tring to be creative. Hang in there.

i know there is a lot of answers through out this forum but i wanted to hear from you guys what you are doing for your snacks. i do a shake for breakfast and lunch and usually chicken or ground turkey for dinner, but in between those meals, ive only really been doing a string cheese here or there. sometimes a yogurt. i just wanted some new and fresh ideas if anyone could offer some suggestions. thanks!

Everyone s different, what works for one wont work for another, so choose whats right for you. All the above posts are full, of great helpful advice, so here goes another piece of advice. Try journaling daily the details of what you eat. Time , type of food, occasion, feelings, satisfaction etc. After awhile you'll notice a pattern, maybe ? I noticed that I didn't crave sweets in the AM, but really wanted them late afternoon or evening. So I keep some frozen yogurt bars and other healthy treats in the house for those times. Im not perfect, I still have stuff I shouldn't sometimes, but being aware and listening to my bodys wants and needs helps alot when im craving something. Am I really craving it, or am I tired, stressed, sad, overwhelmed ?? Hope this helps, good luck !

I know these people exist, but for me I can't see having any issues hitting those kind of numbers at 6 months out. My doc wanted us on 3 meals a day and that was it - no snacks. There was no way I could do that. I had to aim for 3-4 meals plus a protein shake to hit my 60g for a day. I probably average 1600 calories a day being a year out. Truth be told I could easily be over 2000 if I wanted to. It's all about what you eat and how often. Yes, my portions have to be smaller, but if I wanted to graze all day long I could and easily rack up the calories. Even with healthy options like cottage cheese or Greek yogurt those are easy to get down. Really it isn't anything you should be overly concerned about IMO.

My week one diet is only Clear liquids, broth, Jello, Water, tea, apple juice.... Week 2 I can add cream of wheat, yogurt with no seeds or chunks and creamy Soups, Week 3 I can more "mushy" foods like scrambled eggs, cottage cheese... I'm day 4 post-op and HUNGRY! Anyone else experiencing hunger?

I did, and a little bit of faintness at the end of my 2d week. But that went away as soon as I started on pureed foods. I had too many milk-protein shakes and had a bout of constipation, which was very painful, so keep that possibility in mind. I enjoyed low sodium V8, yogurt, V8 fusion, milk.

Hi everyone! (Month before shakes 354, pre surgery 309, current weight is 254) So last few days I’ve been doing 400-800 calories, 60+ protein and 40 or less carbs and my full 8 glasses of water a day, I’ve lost 10 pounds in 5 days, which is awesome because I’ve been stalled for a bit, I was 309 prior to surgery and now I’m 354, I wanna get down to 199. I’m 8 months out of surgery, is it possible to lose it by June? I just feel like it’s not gonna come off how it should now because I’ve stalled and haven’t lost as much as I should. I’m just scared and worried it won’t be off before summer because that’s my goal. I’m doing chicken, fish, meat for protein, veggies (made cabbage soup too), cheese, and yogurt (no sugar and I add stevia) i just still feel discouraged. I’m 24 if that also helps. Will the weight still come off quick even though I’m 8 months out?

I am 3.5 weeks out and it has gotten easier just this week to eat a little more. But before that I could only eat 2 oz. And it also depends on what it is. Yesterday I ate tuna salad and could not eat much, but couple hours later was able to finish the scoop. Same with yogurt. But if it is something warm and not too thick I can eat more. Temperature seems to be a factor for me. Also if I try a baked potato nothing works b/c it is just too thick and seems to stick to my chest. I often wonder where IS the stomach/sleeve b/c when I have problems it is always in my chest not what I thought was my stomach. But eating less, but more frequently is definitely a key. It took my hard head a while to learn that.

Definitely not thinking you're hungry- this is the mindless hungry I would have given into pre-band but does not mean hunger. I have seen someone on the forums post this about hunger: if you are hungry, you will open the fridge and eat whatever is there. If you're not actually hungry, you will search the fridge for the "perfect" thing. I know I'm hungry when I start to feel the grumbling in my stomach. My stomach actually growls too, but is not much louder than pre-band. When my stomach growls, I am at a place where I should have eaten earlier and I am ravenous. This is also a time when I am weaker in my decision making, so it is always in my best interest to have something healthy either prepared and ready or a healthy snack (think Greek yogurt and light string cheese) so I do not eat something I will regret later.